PRIME MINISTER

Intelligence and Security Committee

Nick Palmer: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to lay the Intelligence and Security Committee's Report on Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction—Intelligence and Assessments before Parliament.

Tony Blair: I am grateful to the Intelligence and Security Committee for their Report on Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction—Intelligence and Assessments. I have today laid the Report before the House. The Government will respond formally to it in due course. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Jonathan Powell

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will rescind the powers given to Mr. Jonathan Powell to direct civil servants.

Tony Blair: I have no plans to do so.

Peter Mandelson

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister under what circumstances he has sought advice on presentational matters from the right hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson).

Tony Blair: I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects and will continue to do so. As with previous Administrations, it is not my practice to provide details of confidential discussions, under exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Carbon Trust

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much public funding the Carbon Trust has received since it was established.

Elliot Morley: The Carbon Trust was allocated £26.5 million in 2001–02 by my Department, and a total of £49.6 million for 2002–03 (including £17.1 million from the Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme). The Carbon Trust has been allocated £50.6 million for 2003–04 (including £17.1 million from the Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme).
	The devolved Administrations have separate funding relationships with the Carbon Trust.

Waste Management

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce waste minimisation targets.

Elliot Morley: The Government recognise that progress must be made to reduce waste. However, before considering setting waste reduction targets for local authorities, the Government will consider the levers local authorities have for reducing waste and whether a reduction target would be an effective means of encouraging waste reduction.

Water Companies

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the water companies supplying domestic industries, indicating the nationality of the individuals and organisations with a controlling interest.

Elliot Morley: The following table shows the information for water and sewerage and water only undertakers. The table shows in brackets the country where the ultimate holding company's head office is located.
	
		
			 Water and sewerage undertakers/water undertakers Significant shares (over 25 per cent.)in appointee Ultimate holding company and whereH is based Significant shares (over 25 percent.) in holding company 
		
		
			 Anglian Water Services Ltd. 100 per cent. AWG plc Anglian Water Group plc (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 South Staffordshire Water plc 100 per cent. South Staffordshire Group plc South Staffordshire Group plc (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 Severn Trent Water Ltd. 100 per cent. Severn Trent Water plc Severn Trent Water plc (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 Cambridge Water plc 100 per cent. Ufacex UK Holdings plc Union Electricia Fensoa SA (Spain) n/a 
			 Tendring Hundred Water Services Ltd. 99.23 per cent. VW Capital Funds plc Veolia Environnement (France) n/a 
			 Northumbrian Water Ltd. 100 per cent. Northumbrian Water Services Northumbrian Water Group plc (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 United Utilities Water plc 100 per cent. United Utilities plc United Utilities plc (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 Southern Water Services Ltd. 100 per cent. SWS Holdings Ltd. Southern Water Investment Ltd. (UK) Royal Bank of Scotland 
			 Portsmouth Water plc 100 per cent. Portsmouth Water Holdings Ltd. South Downs Capital Ltd. (UK) n/a privately owned 
			 South East Water plc 100 per cent. Saur Water Services plc Boygues SA (France) 100 per cent. Saur (UK) Ltd. 
			 Mid Kent Water plc 99.98 per cent. Mid Kent Financing Ltd. Swan Capital Group Ltd./WestLB (UK) n/a privately owned 
			 Folkestone and Dover Water Services Ltd. 74.07 per cent. VW Capital Funds plc, 25.05 per cent. Southern Water plc Veolia Environnement (France) n/a 
			 South West Water Services Ltd. 100 per cent. Pennon Group plc Pennon Group plc (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 Thames Water Utilities Ltd. 100 per cent. Thames Water plc Thames Water Aqua Holdings GmbH (RWE AG) (Germany) None over 25 per cent. 
			 Three Valleys Water Services plc 100 per cent. VW Capital Funds plc Veolia Environnment (France) n/a 
			 Sutton and East Surrey Water plc 100 per cent. East Surrey Holdings plc East Surrey Holdings plc 39.2 per cent. AXA S.A 
			 North Surrey Water Ltd. (Under single licence with Three Valleys) — — 
			 Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig 100 per cent. Glas Cymru Cyfyngedig Glas Cymru Cyfyngedig (UK) No shareholders (company limited by guarantee) 
			 Dee Valley Water plc 100 per cent. Dee Valley Group plc Dee Valley Group plc (UK) 35.1 per cent. AXA S.A 
			 Wessex Water Services Ltd. YTL Utilities (UK) Ltd. YTL Power Berhad (Malaysia) — 
			 Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water plc 100 per cent. Cascal Services Ltd. 50 per cent. Biwater plc, 50 per cent. NV NUON YTL Corporation Berhad 60 per cent. (Malaysia) 
			 Bristol Water plc 100 per cent. Bristol Water Holdings plc Bristol Water Holdings plc (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 Cholderton and District Water Company 100 per cent. Cholderton and District Water Company Cholderton and District Water Company (UK) None over 25 per cent. 
			 Yorkshire Water Services Ltd. 100 per cent. Kelda Group plc Kelda Group plc (UK) None over 25 per cent.

TRANSPORT

Civil Contingencies

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the major civil emergency exercise postponed from 23 March 2003 will take place in London.

Tony McNulty: An exercise to test specific elements of the emergency services' response to a chemical attack on the London Underground, postponed from 23 March 2003, took place on 7 September 2003. This was one of a regular series of exercises being held in London and throughout the UK.

Radioactive Materials

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are in place to ensure the safe transport of radioactive materials; and what recent discussions have taken place with the nuclear industry regarding the safe disposal of its radioactive waste.

David Jamieson: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) publishes internationally agreed standards for the transport of radioactive material. These are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they reflect current safety standards and reflect current transport practices. These IAEA standards form the basis for various modal standards, which in turn, become the basis of legislation in the UK. There is a continuous cycle of reviewing IAEA standards and implementing them nationally.
	Legislation in the United Kingdom is brought into line with the currently applicable version of these IAEA technical requirements on a regular basis, the latest amendment being SI 2003 No. 1867, The Radioactive Material (Road Transport) (Amendment) Regulations 2003.
	Policy for the long-term management of the UK's higher activity radioactive waste is currently under review as part of the "Managing Radioactive Waste Safely" programme. Industry had the opportunity to input its views in respect to the original September 2001 consultation document. There will be further opportunities for input of views as the programme proceeds under the oversight of the new Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). Ownership of the UK's low level waste disposal facility at Drigg will pass to the proposed new Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) when this is established. The July 2002 "Managing the Nuclear Legacy" White Paper offered opportunity for industry to comment on the proposed arrangements. There is on-going discussion with industry as the NDA is being set up, however, this is currently at a preliminary stage.

Airports

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to be able to make an announcement regarding airport expansion. [R]

Tony McNulty: The Government intend to publish their conclusions on 'The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom' consultation in a White Paper later this year.

Lane Designation

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish the regulations required to help local authorities designate Quiet Lanes.

David Jamieson: We are aiming to publish regulations on Quiet Lanes in draft for consultation later this year.

Maritime Safety

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to change regulations to ensure that anyone who sails a boat at sea has first participated in adequate safety training; and for what reasons there are no training requirements in place for those taking boats under 25 feet out to sea.

David Jamieson: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) in conjunction with other safety organisations has produced a voluntary code of Best and Safe Practice for Leisure Craft Users. This code is widely available, and encourages boat users to become familiar with their craft and to take a recognised training course. We keep the voluntary approach to training under review, taking account of the practicalities of implementation and enforcement that a regulatory regime would involve. All craft using our seas, regardless of size, must follow the rules of the International Regulations for the Avoidance of Collisions at Sea 1972 (as amended).

Railways

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the companies holding railway franchises indicating the nationality of the individuals and organisations holding a controlling interest.

Kim Howells: The majority of the holding companies are of British origin except for Keolis and Vivendi who are French. We do not hold information about the nationality of individual directors. Information about franchise operators and franchisees is available on the website of the Strategic Rail Authority at: http://www.sra.gov.uk/passengers/tocs.tt2

Railways

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what public subsidies have been made available to the railway industry in each year since 1983.

Kim Howells: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 28 April 2003, Official Report, columns 7–10W. In 2002–03, central Government support to the rail industry was £2,284 million. The increase in support since 2000–01 has helped to fund a substantial increase in investment from £2,958 million in 2000–01 to £4,888 million in 2002–03.

Road Safety

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many accidents involving drivers (a) mobile telephone use and (b) smoking were identified as contributory factors in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

David Jamieson: The information requested is not available as the official road casualty statistics which are collected by the police and reported to the Department using the STATS 19 accident report format does not currently include information on either smoking or mobile phones.

Road Safety

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) passengers and (b) crew in (i) public service vehicles, (ii) hired coaches and minibuses and (iii) taxis and private hire vehicles suffered fatal accidents in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Kim Howells: The number of passengers and drivers of coaches, minibuses and taxis who have died in road accidents is given in the tables below. Vehicles are defined by body type.
	a) Passengers
	
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Bus or Coach(1) 17 11 14 10 17 
			 Minibus(2) N/A(4) 10 11 19 5 
			 Taxi(3) 3 4 4 3 2 
		
	
	b) Drivers 5
	
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Bus or Coach(1) 1 0 1 4 2 
			 Minibus(2) N/A(4) 5 3 5 2 
			 Taxi(3) 2 6 8 1 4 
		
	
	Notes and Definitions:
	1. Bus or Coach (with 17 or more passenger seats) and including hired coaches
	2. Minibus (8—16 passenger seats)
	3. Taxis are defined as vehicles operating as a hackney carriage, regardless of construction, and bearing the appropriate district council or local authority hackney carriage plates.
	4. N/A—Data not available prior to 1999
	5. No data on crew other than drivers are available

Road Projects

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes since 1997 have been made to the COBA formula for determining the value of road projects, with particular reference to the weighting of environmental factors against economic and safety considerations.

David Jamieson: All major (and many minor) road projects are now analysed within the New Approach To Appraisal (NATA) framework, implemented in 1998. The NATA is a problem-oriented approach, focused on a range of alternative options to determine which provides the most effective solution within the context of a range of economic, environmental and social (including safety) objectives. Environmental factors are not given any explicit weighting. Rather an appropriate measure of each impact is presented to decision takers in the form of a one page Appraisal Summary Table to ensure that the full range of economic, environmental and social factors are actively considered during analysis and at decision points.

Runway Capacity (South-East)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much additional terminal capacity would be required if two new runways were to be built at Gatwick; and how this additional capacity would be expressed as a multiple of the capacity at Heathrow Terminal 5.

Kim Howells: The option for two new runways at Gatwick would provide total capacity of 115mppa. This is an additional terminal capacity of 75mppa beyond the base case capacity of 40mppa. Terminal capacity at Gatwick would be a multiple of 2.5 of the capacity at Heathrow Terminal 5 (based on T5 capacity of 30mppa). The amount and timing of terminal capacity provided would, in practice, depend on actual demand.

Runway Capacity (South-East)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total net economic benefit would be using the assumptions recommended by the Treasury, of (a) a close parallel runway, (b) a wide spaced runway at Gatwick and (c) a new runway at (i) Heathrow and (ii) Stansted.

Kim Howells: The total net economic benefit in present value terms, using the Treasury's assumptions, of (a) a close parallel runway at Gatwick is £1.8 billion, (b) a wide spaced runway at Gatwick is £4.4 billion, (c) (i) a new runway at Heathrow is £6.3 billion and (ii) a new runway at Stansted is £5.4 billion.

Runway Capacity (South-East)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that in the forthcoming White Paper on Air Transport there will be no positive reference to new runways at sites, which were not included in the consultation on the Future Development of Air Transport, without a full public consultation.

Kim Howells: The Government have not yet taken any decisions on policies for the air transport White Paper. A number of proposals for new airport capacity at sites which were not included in the Government's consultation document have been submitted as responses to the consultation. These are being considered. If the Government were minded to favour any of these options it would be necessary to consult separately on them.

Runway Capacity (South-East)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish his responses to the consultation on the Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom.

Kim Howells: The Government intend to publish their conclusions on the Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom consultation in a White Paper later this year.
	The Secretary of State gave an undertaking to the Transport Select Committee, in oral evidence on 21 May, to publish the White Paper before the end of 2003.

Runway Capacity (South-East)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to recommend that BAA and the West Sussex County Council extend their 2001 legal agreement on Gatwick Airport until 2030.

Kim Howells: The Government have not yet taken any decisions on policies for the air transport White Paper. The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom consultation closed on 30 June and the many thousands of responses are currently being analysed. It remains the intention to publish the White Paper later this year.

Runway Capacity (South-East)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what total percentage fall in the cost of air travel over the period 2000 to 2030 is assumed in the future demand forecasts given in the consultation paper 'The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom'.

Kim Howells: The central national forecast published in 'Air Traffic Forecasts for the United Kingdom 2000', May 2000, assumed that there will be a 1 per cent. reduction per annum in air fares in real terms between 2000 and 2020. No further reduction was assumed between 2020 and 2030. However, as described in Chapter 5 of 'The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom—South East', February 2003, greater competition between airlines, including the impact of the No Frills sector, suggests that the decline in the cost of air travel will be greater. It is argued in 'The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom—South East' that air fares are likely to fall by 1.5 per cent. per annum in real terms between 2000 and 2020, giving a total percentage reduction in the cost of air travel of around 26 per cent. in the period from 2000 to 2030.

Runway Capacity (South-East)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has requested the owners of Redhill aerodrome to provide additional details of their expansion proposals.

Kim Howells: The Department held discussions earlier this year with several promoters of proposals for new airport capacity that are alternatives to, or variants of, options set out in the Government's consultation document, including with the owners of Redhill aerodrome.
	The aim was to provide guidance on the methodology used to appraise options in the SERAS study and on the information that was needed by the Department in order to appraise their proposals.
	A number of the promoters submitted further material on their proposals. This is being considered.

Transport Infrastructure (Crosby)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) grants and (b) other assistance have been given by his Department for the improvement of transport infrastructure in Crosby since 1997.

Tony McNulty: Government assistance for transport improvements is provided through Local Transport Plans. These are the cornerstone of our integrated transport policy at the local level.
	Figures are not available for Crosby. Since 1997 Sefton borough council has received £35,136,000 for transport improvements. For details of individual schemes, I refer my hon. Friend to the Director of Technical Services, Sefton BC, Balliol House, Balliol House, Bootle, L20 3NJ.

DEFENCE

Campaign Medals

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the campaigns since 1974 that resulted in a medal being struck, what the duration was of each campaign, and when the first medal in each case was presented.

Ivor Caplin: Specific campaign medals and clasps to both the General Service Medal (GSM) 1962 and, more recently, the Operational Service Medal (OSM) have been instituted for the following campaigns and operations since 1974. It is not possible to say when any given campaign started or was completed, but the dates specified in the table represent the qualifying period considered to be suitable for the award.
	
		
			 Medal Clasp (as required) Qualifying dates 
		
		
			 GSM Northern Ireland 14 August 1969-ongoing 
			 GSM Dhofar 1 October 1969–30 September 1976 
			 The Rhodesia Medal 1 December 1979–20 March 1980 
			 South Atlantic Medal 2 April 1982–14 June 1982 
			 GSM Lebanon 7 February 1983–9 March 1984 
			 GSM Mine Clearance Gulf of Suez 15 August 1984–15 October 1984 
			 GSM Gulf 17 November 1986–28 February 1989 
			 The Gulf Medal 2 August 1990–7 March 1991 
			 GSM Kuwait 8 March 1991–30 September 1991 
			 GSM Northern Iraq and Southern Turkey 6 April 1991–17 July 1991 
			 GSM Air Ops Iraq 16 July 1991–18 March 2003 
			 (Op Resinate South) 
			  16 July 1991–30 April 2003 
			 (Op Resinate North) 
			 OSM Sierra Leone 5 May 2000—31 July 2002 
		
	
	No record was made of when these medals were first issued to eligible recipients. Medals for campaign service are generally posted direct to individuals or, if still serving, sent in batches to their Unit/Regiment/Ship/ Squadron and distributed. Any formal presentation ceremony would be a local initiative organised by the commanding officer of the unit concerned.

Deepcut Barracks

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of Her Majesty's armed forces have died through deaths ruled as suicide or self-inflicted at Deepcut Barracks since 1 January 1996.

Adam Ingram: Only a coroner can rule on the cause of a death.
	Since 1 January 1996, the coroner has recorded no verdicts of suicide relating to deaths at Deepcut.

HMS Dryad

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 13 June, Official Report, column 112W, on HMS Dryad, if he will make it his policy to ensure that, before marketing arrangements are made, the neighbouring local authorities are consulted in the event of a decision to dispose of the site of HMS Dryad; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: It is already departmental policy to ensure that there is full consultation with all parties in the run up to any disposal, including with local authorities, English Heritage and the local community.

Iraq

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated Iraqi civilian death toll is from when hostilities began to 28 August 2003.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon .Member to the answer I gave on 16 June 2003, Official Report, column 55W to the hon .Member for Lewes (Mr Baker).

Operation Telic

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many call out notices for reservists have been issued for Operation Telic; how many reservists have been accepted into service; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: As at 29 August 2003 a total of 11,668 call-out notices had been served. 298 of these call-out notices were revoked before the individual reported for service. A total of 8,955 Reservists reported for service, of which 7,514 were accepted for service. Of those accepted for service, 4,236 have been demobilised after completing an operational tour.

Military Police

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will order an independent inquiry into the effectiveness of the Ministry of Defence police investigation branch; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: No. The Criminal Investigation Department of the MOD Police is inspected by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary who have stated that the force as a whole continues to provide an efficient and effective service.

RAF Halton

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the (a) state of the runways at RAF Halton and (b) the future repair programme for the runways.

Ivor Caplin: During the recent prolonged period of hot, dry weather experienced across the United Kingdom, a number of cracks developed in both of the primary grass runways at RAF Halton airfield. As a flight safety precaution, both runways have been closed and a single, temporary runway has been brought into use to allow limited flying to continue.
	Specialists in the maintenance of grass airfields are being consulted to identify the options for returning the airfield to full availability and the future repair programme will be informed by their advice.

Gliding Centres

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons he decided not to proceed with his proposal to relocate (a) the Joint Services Adventurous Training (Gliding) Centre and (b) the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association Centre to Rissington.

Ivor Caplin: The RAF Gliding and Soaring Association withdrew from consideration of relocating its Bicester Centre to Little Rissington because they could not afford to build the new hangar they would have needed to operate at Little Rissington. An option of moving the publicly funded Joint Services Adventurous Training (ISAT (G)) gliding activity to Little Rissington was considered but would have required considerable initial investment in equipment, which was deemed unaffordable.

Gliding Centres

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the additional number of flights that will take place from RAF Halton as a result of the relocation of (a) the Joint Services Adventurous Training (Gliding) and (b) the Royal Air Force Gliding and Soaring Association centres.

Ivor Caplin: The Joint Services Adventurous Training (Gliding) unit is tasked by the Ministry of Defence sponsor with providing places on its courses which will result in a maximum of 4,800 launches per year.
	Until the closure of the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association Club at Bicester, it will not be clear how many of its members will join the Association's Club at RAF Halton. It is possible that the increased membership could double the level of activity undertaken by the Chiltern Gliding Club at RAF Halton to approximately 8,000 launches, which would return it to that undertaken eight years ago, however, it may be fewer than that.

Gliding Centres

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of local residents who will experience increased intrusion from aircraft noise following the relocation to RAF Halton of (a) the Joint Services Adventurous Training (Gliding) and (b) the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association centres.

Ivor Caplin: The airfield at RAF Halton is currently very well used by light aircraft; motorised gliders and winch launched gliders. The relocation of the Joint Services Adventurous Training (Gliding) activity to the airfield is expected to cause very little increased aircraft noise. The gliders used are, in the main, not motorised. The tug aircraft have four bladed propellers and their performance is maximised for quick take off and climb. This allows engine power to be reduced during the climb, all of which reduces noise output. Return to the airfield invariably utilises a constant descent at reduced power, causing very little noise.
	The relocation of the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association assets to RAF Halton is not expected to increase intrusion from aircraft noise as the gliders do not have motors and are winch launched.

Sonar

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the effects upon marine mammals of low frequency active sonar operating at levels up to 240 decibels.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Sonar 2087, a Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS) system. The EIA indicated that the sonar had the potential to be harmful to marine mammals. The effect is determined by the duration and frequency of the sound, as well as its intensity: the EIA looked at these at varying levels in different environmental conditions and developed a range of mitigation measures to minimise the impact. A copy of the EIA will be placed in the Library of the House later this month.

Sonar

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to introduce low frequency active sonar operating at levels up to 240 decibels in Royal Navy ships.

Adam Ingram: We plan to fit Sonar 2087, a tactical, variable-depth, low frequency active and passive sonar to Type 23 Frigates during their refit cycle. It will replace the Type 23fs current passive towed array Sonar 2031 (where this is fitted) and will be integrated with the existing bow-mounted, active Sonar 2050. The system is expected to begin to enter operational service in 2006, once trials of the first production sets are complete.

Suez Medal

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the proposal to introduce a medal for service in the Suez Canal Zone has received Royal Assent; and when he expects issue of medals to commence.

Ivor Caplin: Her Majesty The Queen has agreed in principle to the institution of a new medal for service in the Suez Canal Zone, as announced in the House by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 11 June. Final agreement to the detailed qualifying criteria for the medal is still awaited. It is hoped that the first medals will be issued shortly after receiving the Royal Assent.

Suez Medal

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the qualifying criteria for the Suez Canal Zone medal will be.

Ivor Caplin: Proposals for the detailed qualifying criteria for the Naval General Service Medal 191562 and General Service Medal 191862, for service in the Suez Canal Zone between 1951 and 1954, have been passed to the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals for their consideration. They will be published in a White Paper when The Queen has agreed them.

Suez Medal

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the application process for a Suez Canal Zone medal will be.

Ivor Caplin: Veterans of the Canal Zone, or the next-of-kin of those who have died, will need to apply in writing to the appropriate medal office, giving full name, date of birth and Service number. The addresses of the medal offices are as follows:
	Royal Naval Medal Office, Room 1068, Centurion Building, Grange Road, Gosport, Hampshire PO13 9XA
	Royal Marines Medal Office, Room 038, Centurion Building, Grange Road, Gosport, Hampshire PO13 9XA
	Army Medal Office, Government Buildings, Worcester Road, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire WR9 8AU
	Royal Air Force Medal Office, Room 6, Building 248A, RAF PMA,
	RAF Innsworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL3 1EZ.
	All applications will be acknowledged on receipt and will be dealt with strictly in the order they are received. The Ministry of Defence will arrange for the individual Service files of those who apply to be recalled from the archives and will assess entitlement from these detailed records.

SCOTLAND

Annual Report

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many copies of the Scotland Office Annual Report 200203 have been printed; at what cost; and how it was distributed.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office had 150 copies of the Departmental Report produced at a total cost of 4,036. Copies of the report were provided to the Scottish Affairs Committee, other Government Departments and for use within the Department. The report is also available on the department's website.
	The Stationery Office determines the number of copies it requires for retail sale and meets the costs of printing and publication.

Departmental Staff

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) special advisers, (b) press officers, (c) civil servants, (d) advisers to civil servants and (e) permanent staff were working for the Scotland Office in each year since 1996.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
	Details of staff numbers which cover permanent staff, including press officers, are given in Table C of the annual publication, Civil Service Statistics. Copies of this publication are available from the Libraries of both Houses.
	The Department employed three special advisers in 19992000 and 200001, one of whom was unpaid; and two special advisers in 200102 and 200203.
	The Department does not employ any staff as advisers to civil servants.

Departmental Staff

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff in his Department have been transferred to new responsibilities within the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Anne McGuire: The staff of the Scotland Office transferred to the Department for Constitutional Affairs on 12 June. They have retained their existing responsibilities.

Friends of Scotland

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff in his Department were allocated to the Friends of Scotland project, expressed as full-time equivalents in the last year for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: In 200203, five staff were allocated to the Friends of Scotland project.

IT Contracts

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many outsourced IT contracts have been signed by his Department in each year since 1997; how much each of these contracts is worth; with whom they are signed; how many have been renegotiated; how many are still in place; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The Department's IT systems and support are provided through the Scottish Executive. The Scotland Office has no outsourced IT contracts.

Private Sector Secondees

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his Department's policy is on employing secondees from the private sector; how many secondees from the (a) private and (b) public sectors his Department employed in each year since 1997; from which companies and organisations they were seconded; at what level they were employed; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. Since then the department has employed two individuals from the private sector (Bank of Scotland) at Grade 7 and SEO levels in 2002 and two individuals from the public sector (House of Lords) at Grade 7 and SCS level, one in 2001 and one in 2002.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children of asylum seekers were being held in custody at each removal centre on 1 July 2003; and if he intends to end the practice.

Beverley Hughes: The latest published information on the number of children of asylum seekers held in removal centres is for 2 April 2003.
	At this date an exercise was carried out to access the number of children under the age of 18 who were detained in Dungavel, Harmondsworth, Oakington and Tinsley House Immigration Service Removal Centres. These centres are the only ones that deal with family cases. The results of the exercise are contained in the following table.
	
		
			 Immigration serviceremoval centre Children under 18 years of age in detention at 2 April 2003 
		
		
			 Dungavel 21 
			 Harmondsworth 18 
			 Oakington 14 
			 Tinsley 3 
			 Total 56 
		
	
	Children under 18 years are detained only in two limited circumstances: first, as part of a family group whose detention is considered appropriate; second, when unaccompanied, while alternative care arrangements are made and normally just overnight.
	While the detention of families with children is very regrettable, it nevertheless remains necessary in appropriate cases in order to maintain an effective immigration control and to tackle abuses of the asylum system.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Iraq

Richard Page: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will place the Department's pre-conflict plans for the reconstruction of Iraq and their estimated costs in the Library.

Hilary Benn: Details of the Department for International Development's pre-conflict planning for Iraq are contained in the Memoranda submitted to the International Development Committee by the Department in February and June this year.

Malaria

John Barrett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what plans there are to expand the use of the RTSS/AS02A malaria vaccine following its trial in Mozambique.

Hilary Benn: The RTSS/AS02A vaccine (a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals' product) is a new product for malaria which has yet to undergo the full approval process.
	An international partnership involving GSK, Mozambique's Ministry of Health (MOH), and Centro de Investigacio em Saude de Manhica (CISM), the Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona, and the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)'s Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) has now conducted phase 2 paediatric clinical trials.
	The UK Government welcome the apparent success of the vaccine to date, but will wait to see the final outcome of the trials before planning any expansion of its use.

WALES

Public Appointments

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what public appointments have been made by holders of his office since June 1999 (a) individually and (b) jointly with other Ministers.

Peter Hain: Information about ministerial appointments to public bodies is included in the Cabinet Office's annual report Public Bodies, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House and which is published on the Cabinet Office website.
	(a) Since June 1999, holders of the office of Secretary of State for Wales have made one appointment to the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales. In addition the Secretary of State for Wales offers advice to Her Majesty about a number of Crown Appointments.
	(b) Appointments to the Audit Commission are made jointly with my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health.
	All decisions about public appointments are made with regard to the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Code of Practice.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Museum Charging

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment has been undertaken of museum entry prices; what plans there are to make an assessment; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: Since 1 December 2001, all the principal museums and galleries sponsored by this Department have offered free admission to all. This has been a huge success. In 200203, the first full year of free access, our sponsored museums and galleries received over 32 million visitsover 8 million more than in 1997.

School Sports Coaches

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what plans there are to increase the number of qualified school sports coaches employed at a local level;
	(2)  how many qualified school sports coaches were employed in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear and (d) England, in each year since 1997.

Richard Caborn: DCMS is investing 28 million to implement the key recommendations of the Coaching Task Force. These include the creation by 2006 of 3,000 qualified Community Sports Coaches, who will work in partnership at local level with schools, clubs and other local or regional organisations supporting sport. I expect the first phase of some 100 Community Sports Coaches to be operational during the current financial year.
	The information requested about numbers of qualified school sports coaches could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

British Tourism

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has undertaken research into the potential effect of the tolls and charges proposed for using cars on British roads, on the British tourism industry.

Richard Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has undertaken no such research. DCMS recognises that transport is a key issue for UK tourism and officials from DCMS and the Department for Transport are in regular contact on transport issues. The revenues raised from local authority congestion charging schemes must be reinvested into local transport improvements and can help deliver a quality transport system that will benefit all sectors of the economy, including tourism.

British Tourism

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment has been made of the provisional numbers of domestic and overseas tourists in England this summer.

Richard Caborn: The latest provisional figures for the number of domestic tourism trips including an overnight stay in England show that over the three months April to June 2003 there were 31.4 million trips 1 .
	Figures for the number of overseas tourists visiting England are currently only available up to March 2003. 2 These figures show that over the three months January to March 2003 there were 4.3 million visits from overseas residents to England
	1 All figures for domestic tourism trips are taken from the UK Tourism Survey which is run by VisitBritain. Figures for domestic trips in England up to September 2003 will be available from early January 2004.
	2 All figures for overseas visits are taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for overseas visits to England up to June 2003 will be available in October 2003, and data up to September 2003 will be available in January 2004.

British Tourism

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has undertaken research into the effect of the congestion charge on tourism in London.

Richard Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has undertaken no such research. Responsibility for tourism policy in London has been devolved to the Mayor and the London Assembly. Likewise, congestion charging is the responsibility of the Mayor. An initial three-month assessment of the scheme has been published by Transport for London. A six-month report is due to be published in October.

HEALTH

Hepatitis C

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his latest estimate is of the incidence of hepatitis C among the prison population;
	(2)  what his latest estimate is of the proportion of prisoners with chronic hepatitis C who are receiving treatment in accordance with National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines;
	(3)  what his latest estimate is of the incidence of hepatitis C among prisoners (a) on reception and (b) on discharge;
	(4)  what steps he has taken to estimate the incidence of hepatitis C amongst the prison population.

Stephen Ladyman: Prisoners are not routinely screened for hepatitis C. Individual prisoners often ask to be tested for evidence of chronic hepatitis C infection and this is done, after pre-test counselling. The Public Health Laboratory Service undertook an unlinked, anonymised survey of the prevalence of blood borne viruses among prisoners in England in 199798. This indicated that 9 per cent. of adult men, 11 per cent. of all women and 0.6 per cent. of young men had evidence of previous exposure to hepatitis C. No research has been undertaken on the prevalence of hepatitis C on reception and discharge.
	Prisoners newly diagnosed with hepatitis C are referred to national health service specialists for further assessment and treatment, as clinically appropriate. People received into prison with hepatitis C will have any treatment begun in the community continued while they remain in prison. Information about the number of prisoners receiving treatment for hepatitis C and what form that treatment takes is not collated centrally.

Lincolnshire NHS Trust

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding Lincolnshire NHS Trust received from the Government in (a) 200203 and (b) 200304.

Stephen Ladyman: Total income for 200203 for the Lincolnshire Partnership National Health Service Trust, including income from activities and all other operating income was 63,190,000. Figures for 200304 are not available.
	Source:
	The audited summarisation schedules for the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust 200203.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Parliamentary Mail

David Winnick: To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee what progress has been made with the internal audit on the possibility of resuming later collections of parliamentary mail.

Archy Kirkwood: The arrangements for the reinstatement of later collections have now been set out in a notice from the Serjeant at Arms and Black Rod to all users of the service:
	In response to representations from Members of both Houses, from 9 September 2003 there will be a 7pm final collection on sitting days from the 15 main post boxes (detailed below). This reinstatement of service has been negotiated with Royal Mail to enable Members' and departments' letters to be processed through the Royal Mail network ensuring that they are delivered the following day wherever possible.
	Central Lobby and Post Office Counter
	Members' Lobby and Post Office Counter
	Peers' Lobby
	Members' Entrance
	Peers' Entrance
	Star Chamber Court
	Ground Floor Portcullis House
	Ground Floor Millbank House
	Ground Floor 7 Millbank
	Ground Floor Parliament Street
	Ground Floor 1 The Abbey Garden
	Ground Floor 2 The Abbey Garden
	Ground Floor Norman Shaw North
	Ground Floor Norman Shaw South
	Ground Floor 7 Old Palace Yard

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Sittings of the House

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the estimated cost to public funds is of interrupting the maintenance and building work in the Palace of Westminster for the two week sitting of the House in September.

Archy Kirkwood: The Serjeant at Arms is collating the costs associated with interruptions to the works projects in the Palace of Westminster for the September sitting period and will write to the right hon. Gentleman when the figures are available.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Biotechnology Industry

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the change in (a) turnover and (b) employment in the UK biotechnology industry within the duration of the farm-scale trials programme.

Jacqui Smith: In the agricultural biotechnology sector, the following statistics are available:
	
		
			 December Revenue ( million) Employees 
		
		
			 2000 160 1,147 
			 2001 198 1,145 
		
	
	Note:
	No other figures are available for earlier years.

Employment Rights

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will introduce legislation removing the upper age limit on employment rights.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There is no upper age limit on the great majority of employment rights. However, under current legislation employees cannot generally complain of unfair dismissal if they have reached their employer's normal retirement age for their job, or, if there is no normal retirement age, the age of 65. Similarly, they have no entitlement to a statutory redundancy payment if they have reached the age of 65 or, if lower, the employer's normal retirement age for their job.
	The public consultation on age discrimination launched on 2 July, Equality and Diversity: Age Matters, proposes changing these provisions so that employees who believe they have been unfairly dismissed can seek redress at any age, but retirement at a justifiable retirement age will be a fair reason for dismissal. The upper age limit for entitlement to a statutory redundancy payment will depend on the decision we make about retirement ages. A final decision will be made in the light of responses to consultation.

THORP Reprocessing Plant

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield will close in 2010.

Stephen Timms: BNFL expects to complete their existing order book for reprocessing spent fuel at THORP by around 2010. Operation of THORP beyond completion of the existing order book would be dependent on there being new contracts for reprocessing further spent fuel at the plant which, in the first instance, is dependent on there being customer demand.
	The Government's position on the future of THORP was set out in the July 2002 White Paper on Managing the Nuclear Legacy. We expect existing THORP contracts to be honoured. There are currently no proposals for new contracts for reprocessing further spent fuel at THORP. Before any such new THORP contracts could be concluded or changes made to existing contracts that increased the volume of spent fuel to be reprocessed at THORP, the approval of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry would be required. Before making a decision on any such future proposal, the Government would review it against the specific criteria that were set out in the White Paper and would consult publicly.

BAE Systems

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  whether the Export Credits Guarantee Department has reviewed allegations of corrupt practice by BAE Systems regarding the supply of a package of Hawk jets and Gripen planes to the Government of South Africa; what action is being taken by the Export Credits Guarantee Department regarding its guarantee to BAE Systems regarding the supply of this package following these allegations; when the Export Credits Guarantee Department first received allegations of corrupt practice by BAE Systems regarding the supply of this package; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  whether allegations of corrupt practice by BAE Systems regarding the supply of a package of Hawk jets and Gripen planes to the Government of South Africa were raised during meetings during the visit of the then Minister for Trade to South Africa in November 2000.

Mike O'Brien: We have been unable to find any record of this issue having been discussed during the meetings referred to.

Bankruptcy

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) bank rate of interest and (b) rate of interest accrual under the 1838 bankruptcy provisions has been in each year since 1992.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Bank of England publishes the base rates throughout the year and these can be accessed from their website www.bankofengland.co.uk. In November 1992 the base rate was 6.87 per cent. and since July of this year it has been 3.5 per cent.
	(b) On 1 April 1993 the judgment rate of interest was set at 8 per cent. and has been 8 per cent. since that date. Immediately prior thereto, including for the whole of 1992, it was set at 15 per cent.

British Overseas Territories

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what responsibilities her Department undertakes in connection with British Overseas Territories.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 16 July 2003
	The Radiocommunications Agency of the Department for Trade and Industry is responsible for representing the interests of the Overseas Territories in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In doing so, the Radiocommunications Agency has to ensure compliance with the obligations, procedures and practices that derive from the UK's membership of the ITU in respect of facilitating efficient international telecommunications and, more particularly, on the use of radio frequencies and satellite orbits for delivering all types of radiocommunication services.

Bull and Company

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the inquiries initiated by the European Commission on the subsidising by France of the computer group Bull and Company; and what the outcome of the inquiries has been.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 10 September 2003
	The European Commission announced on 9 April 2002 that it was launching an investigation into a Euro450 million cash advance by France to Bull. On 13 November 2002, it authorised the aid and ordered France to submit evidence of the reimbursement by Bull of the advance with interest by 17 June 2003. Copies of the notices appear in the Official Journal of the European Communities, C 128, 30.5.2002 and C 209, 19.8.2003 respectively.

Photovoltaics

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much of the (a) major photovoltaics demonstration programme budget, (b) clear skies programme budget, and (c) Scottish community renewables initiative budget (i) has been allocated and (ii) remains to be allocated; and where each of these schemes are advertised.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 9 September 2003
	The information is in the following table.
	
		
			 Scheme Funds allocated at 9 September 2003 including management costs ( million) Unallocated  ( million) Advertised at 
		
		
			 Major Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme 11.55 8.45 www.solarpvsrants.co.uk editorial in national and local press, radio and TV 
			 
			 Clear Skies 2.31 7.69 www.clear-skies.org editorial in national and local press, radio and TV 
			 
			 Scottish Community Renewables Initiative 0.65 4.62 www.est.co.uk/schri and www.hie.co.uk

Corporate Energy Consumption

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the recommendations for reducing corporate energy consumption in the Government's sustainable development strategyA Better Quality of Life.

Stephen Timms: The 1999 strategy for sustainable development for the UK, A better quality of life, sets out key UK Government actions to achieve sustainable development, including those to achieve more prudent use of energy by the business sector.
	The Climate Change Levy was launched in April 2001 to help fund measures to promote energy efficiency in business and the public sector. As part of the CCL package a number of measures were introduced including:
	The EGA scheme offering tax incentives to firms investing in approved energy saving technologies.
	The Carbon Trust (CT) was launched to take the lead on energy efficiency for business and the public sector, and to support the development of a low carbon economy, delivered through the trust's two main programmes: the Low Carbon Innovation Programme, and Action Energy (formerly the non-domestic part of the Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme) the UK's main energy efficiency information, advice and research programme for organisations in the public and private sectors. Since 1989, the EEBPP has helped many organisations save up to 20 per cent. of their energy bills, which equates to total UK energy savings of around 800 million a year.
	Envirowise (formerly the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme) is the main programme promoting the resource efficiency message to business. Since it was established in 1994, the EETBP has helped UK business make resource efficiency savings of approximately 800 million.
	A review of A better quality of life has just started, to have a revised strategy in place by 2005. We intend to take a fresh look at how we achieve sustainable development in the UK, building on the current strategy to improve delivery.

Employment Legislation

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list all the documentation issued by her Department that an employer must complete when he or she takes on his or her first employee, in order to be fully compliant; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: None. However, employment legislation for which the Department is responsible requires employers to keep records showing compliance with the national minimum wage legislation and weekly working time and night work limits; and to provide the following documents: an itemised pay statement, issued at or before the time of payment; a written statement of employment particulars for employees who are employed for one month or more; and, for shop and betting workers in England and Wales who are or may be required to work on Sundays, a written statement explaining how they can opt out of Sunday work. The wording of that opt-out statement is prescribed by law and the written statement of employment particulars must contain certain prescribed information. The Department publishes an example form of the written statement of employment particulars for the assistance of employers.
	The Department is fully aware of the need to regulate only where it is necessary to do so and to keep compliance requirements as simple as possible.

Employment Legislation

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employment tribunals were attended by small businesses, as a result of non-compliance with employment legislation in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Employment Tribunals Service does not record the numbers of employment tribunals that are attended by small businesses because no information is held on the size of the employer's business that may be subject to tribunal proceedings.

Employment Legislation

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employment regulations were introduced by her Department in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In its first term (19972001), the Government introduced a foundation of minimum standards in the workplace. Every employee now has, for example, the right to a minimum wage, paid holidays, rest breaks, time off for family emergencies, and a cap on the working week. Trade unions have the right to recognition by the employer where a majority of the workforce want it. Part-time workers have the same rights as their full-time colleagues.
	In their second term, the Government are building on all these measures in its drive to raise productivity, including a range of changes to support families and to make work pay. The Government have improved existing maternity rights and introduced paid paternity and adoption leave for the first time. For example, the payment period of statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance has been extended to 26 weeks. It has also introduced a right for working parents with children under six, or disabled children under 18, to request flexible working. This new right builds on existing best practice and further enforces our aim to promote greater dialogue in the workplace to find flexible solutions that suit both employers and employees.
	Recently, both Houses have passed regulations to tackle discrimination in employment on the grounds of sexual orientation and religion or belief, which will take effect in December 2003.

Energy Supply

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the future of the UK's energy supply; and how the Government intends to bridge future energy generation shortfall.

Stephen Timms: The Government's Energy White Paper 'Our energy futurecreating a low carbon economy', published on 24 February this year, covered both these points. It set out the Government's new energy policy, designed to deal with the major challenges that confront our energy system, namely climate change, our declining indigenous energy supplies and updating our energy infrastructure. The position remains as set out in the White Paper.

Estate Agents

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 10 July 2003, Official Report, column 888W, when she expects to receive the report of the Director General of Fair Trading on estate agents; and on what date she expects to publish the report.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I expect the Office of Fair Trading to publish its report on estate agents in the autumn.

Estate Agents

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 10 July 2003, Official Report, column 888W, 
	(1)  how many estate agents are practising in the United Kingdom; and what percentage of estate agents are members of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents Scheme;
	(2)  how much was paid out in each year since 1997 by way of compensation by the Ombudsman for malpractice by estate agents.

Gerry Sutcliffe: This information is not collected by the Department.

Estate Agents

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 10 July 2003, Official Report, column 888W, what procedures are in place to ensure that estate agents banned by the Office of Fair Trading (a) no longer practise and (b) are no longer involved in the management of estate agency companies; how many estate agents banned since 1997 have subsequently been discovered to have continued or recommenced estate agency work; how many estate agents have been prosecuted since 1997 for such practices; what the penalties received were; and what procedures are in place to monitor estate agents whose conduct has resulted in warning letters being issued by the Director General of Fair Trading.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The banning of an estate agent by the Office of Fair Trading results in a press release that alerts other local estate agents and consumers. Local Trading Standards Officers are advised separately, and the OFT relies on them to notify it if the banned agent continues in business or is involved in the management of an estate agency company. It is a criminal offence for an agent banned by the OFT to continue doing estate agency work.
	No estate agents banned since 1997 have subsequently been discovered to have continued or recommenced estate agency work or been prosecuted for such practices.
	The OFT does not publicise the issue of warning letters to estate agents, and does not formally monitor estate agents whose conduct has resulted in a warning letter being sent. However, a copy is sent to the local Trading Standards Department to alert them to the action taken. Formal warning orders are treated as per banning orders.

Estate Agents

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 10 July 2003, Official Report, column 888W, on estate agents, how many complaints were investigated by the Office of Fair Trading in each year since 2000; how many were upheld in each year since 1997; what the average time taken to investigate a complaint is; and what the longest time taken to investigate a complaint is.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following table contains details of the complaints about estate agents investigated by the Office of Fair Trading and the number of complaints upheld in each year since 2000. The OFT did not record details of how many complaints were upheld prior to 2001.
	
		
			  Complaints investigated by the Office of Fair Trading Complaints upheld by the Office of Fair Trading 
		
		
			 2000 213  
			 2001 170 80 
			 2002 206 97 
			 2003 (1)126 (1)47 
		
	
	(1) Up to 31 July 2003
	The three main areas of complaints were: agents not passing on offers, failing to declare a personal interest and misrepresentation as to the details/existence of a prospective purchaser.
	The average time taken to investigate a complaint is three months. Complex cases may take up to a year.

Flexible Working

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans there are to monitor and record the number of workers (a) requesting and (b) being granted flexible working in (i) central government, (ii) local government, (iii) the public sector and (iv) the private sector; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In addition to the detail in my answer to my hon. Friend on 1 July, Official Report, column 214W, my Department has since commissioned questions on flexible working to appear in the monthly Office for National Statistics omnibus survey.
	The Government is taking a strategic approach to monitoring flexible working. This will feed into the review of the new flexible working law it is committed to commencing in 2006 and to the future work of the Government's Work-Life Balance campaign. The approach involves gathering qualitative and quantitative evidence to establish a comprehensive research base.
	The Government is circulating a summary of the Government's approach to how it is monitoring all the new working parent laws introduced in April 2003 to interested parties, which is also available at www.dti.gov.uk/workingparents. This invites others to share their own experience of the new laws, including flexible working.

GATS

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the openness of the GATS negotiations; and what she estimates the benefits were of (a) open and (b) closed discussions during this process.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 16 June 2003
	The Government believe that all WTO negotiations should be as transparent as possible, consistent with protecting negotiating positions. To this end the Government have been as open as possible with civil society about progress with the negotiations, meeting them frequently.
	In relation to the GATS, we published our second public consultation document last year, setting a lead that other governments and the European Commission have followed. We will shortly be publishing our response. We also pressed strongly for the EU's initial GATS offer to be published at the time of its submission to the WTO. A number of other WTO Members have done so.
	However, transparency is a matter for each government and we must respect the wishes of those who have asked for their GATS requests or offers to be treated as restricted. For this reason, we have not published other countries' requests to us in full, but summarised them in our consultation document. That is the balance we have struck.

Home Accident Surveillance System

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will change her policy on the termination of the collection and analysis of the Home Accident Surveillance System statistics.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Since the decision to stop HASS was announced on 2 May, contracts to collect the data have been terminated and the work within the DTI is being wound up. I have no plans to reverse this policy.

Home Accident Surveillance System

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she plans to establish a new Government accident recording system to ensure and improve the safety standards of home and leisure products and activities.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have no plans to establish such a system. I have, however, offered to support initiatives that the Department of Health might launch to strengthen the surveillance of accidental injury at regional and local levels in the NHS.

Home Accident Surveillance System

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many representations she has received in opposition to the decision taken by her Department to cease the collection by Home Accident Surveillance Systems of statistics relating to accidents in the home.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have received approximately 80 representations opposing the decision to stop HASS.

Independent Chief Engineer

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government have plans to create an independent chief engineer.

Stephen Timms: The Government have no plans to appoint an independent chief engineer.

Inward Investment

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations her Department has received from major inward investors on the effects on their investment decisions of the condition of the transport system.

Mike O'Brien: Invest-UK, British Trade International's inward investment arm, has received one such recent representation from a major inward investorPfizer Global Research laboratories based in Sandwich.
	In their continuing dialogue with key major inward investors, Invest UK has identified the UK's transport infrastructure as one among a number of important competitiveness factors for investors when looking to maintain or further develop their UK presence. UK inward investment figures for the year to March 2003 show that the UK remains by a good margin the top destination in the EU.

Structural Funding (Merseyside)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many jobs were created by the first Merseyside Objective 1 Programme between the years 1994 to 1999;
	(2)  what the five key targets were for the first Merseyside Objective 1 Programme which ran from 1994 to 1999; and what the outcomes were for each target;
	(3)  how many people accessed further education or training between the start of the first Merseyside Objective 1 Programme in 1994 until its end in 1999;
	(4)  how many cases there were of business assistance provided by the first Merseyside Objective 1 Programme from 1994 to 1999 in Merseyside.

Jacqui Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 9 July 2003, Official Report, column 798W.

National Grid

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total generating capacity available to the National Grid was in each year since 1983; and what the percentage change in generating capacity was in each year.

Stephen Timms: Available data are shown in the following table.
	
		Generating capacity available to the National Grid
		
			 Year Capacity (MW) Change in year (MW) Change in year (percentage) 
		
		
			  At end of financial year 
			 198384 57,640   
			 198485 58,225 585 +1.0 
			 198586 59,270 1,045 +1.8 
			 198687 61,615 2,345 +4.0 
			 198788 61,194 -421 -0.7 
			 198889 61,376 182 +0.3 
			 198990 65,592 4,216 +6.9 
			 199091 63,822 -1,770 -2.7 
			 199192 61,931 -1,891 -3.0 
			 199293 60,636 -1,295 -2.1 
			 199394 61,358 722 +1.2 
			 199495 58,946 -2,412 -3.9 
			 199596 58,265 -681 -1.2 
			 199697 62,758 4,493 +7.7 
			 199798 61,885 -873 -1.4 
			 199899 63,087 1,202 +1.9 
			 19992000 64,049 962 +1.5 
			 200001 66,465 2,416 +3.8 
			 200102 67,593 1,128 +1.7 
			 200203 66,468 -1,125 -1.7 
		
	
	Source:
	National Grid Transco

Offshore Wind Power

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures have been put in place to ensure that new offshore wind power projects will have sufficient grid connection points and capacity capabilities to connect the required megawatts.

Stephen Timms: I have stated that transmission licences will apply throughout the strategic areas and I shall legislate to achieve this. Transmission licences covering the strategic areas will provide certainty for generators that there will be a connector of last resort, in addition to providing infrastructure that is efficient, economical and which guards against the owner of the connection wielding market power. DTI and Ofgem are working together to create the necessary regulatory regime and will issue licences in a timely way that ensure that generation and infrastructure development can run concurrently.

Science and Biotechnology Sectors

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of international and domestic (a) regulation and (b) financial support on the (i) science and (ii) biotechnology sectors in the United Kingdom.

Jacqui Smith: International and domestic regulation of science in general, and biotechnology in particular is necessary to encourage scientific and technological innovation, while protecting the legitimate interests of members of the public and other groups that might be affected by scientific developments.
	The biotechnology regulations in place maintain a framework for ethical scientific study in an industry of rapid expansion and improvement. The Government realises that a supportive regulatory environment in the UK and Europe will be critical to the success of the UK biosciences sector.
	The Government regularly monitors the effect of scientific regulation. The government/industry Bioscience Innovation and Growth Team is considering the topic of regulation and is likely to make recommendations for action in its report which is due to be published in the autumn.
	The Government is committed to support UK science. In 2000 the budget for science and technology increased by 7 per cent. in real terms, year on year, and as a result of the last spending review it will be increasing at 10 per cent. per annum in real terms over the next three years. In 19978 the science budget was 1.3 billion. By 20056 it will be 2.9 billion. The Government has also invested heavily in modernising the scientific infrastructure of the country.
	The Government's cross-cutting Review of Science and Research published in March 2002 included a review of funding of the UK science base, and the effectiveness of departments' own science and research programmes to ensure that they are delivering maximum long-term benefits to the economy and quality of life. Following this review, the Government published in July 2002 its strategy for science, engineering and technologyInvesting in Innovation
	The Government regularly assesses the effect of its financial support for the biotechnology industry. The Bioscience Innovation and Growth Team is also reviewing government support for the sector.

Trade Liberalisation

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the consequences of dumping of goods by developed countries upon trade liberalisation in developing countries.

Mike O'Brien: The UK has long been conscious that reductions in the currently high levels of trade-distorting support in the agriculture sector are necessary to address over-production in the developed world and the consequent disruption of world commodity markets, which are of vital interest to developing countries. So the UK was pleased that all WTO members agreed at Doha in November 2001 to comprehensive negotiations aimed at: reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support.

Unpaid Bills

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of bills remained unpaid in excess of 30 days in each year since 2001 in her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies; what the (a) longest and (b) average time is that an invoice has remained outstanding for payment in that period; and whether it is her Department's policy to pay interest on late payment of invoice.

Patricia Hewitt: The percentage of bills that were unpaid by the Department and its agencies within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice was 2.3 per cent. for the financial year 200102 and 2.8 per cent. for the financial year 200203.
	Information on the longest and average time that an invoice has remained outstanding for payment by the Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department's policy is to pay interest on late payment of undisputed and correctly presented invoices where appropriate in line with relevant legislation.

Wind Generators

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many wind generators are working in the United Kingdom; and how many are planned to be built in the next five years.

Stephen Timms: My Department does not collate figures for all wind turbine generators in the UK. Only if a wind farm application is referred to DTI through section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 or through the Transport and Works Act 1992 (wind farms of an installed capacity of 50 megawatts or above onshore and 1MW or above offshore) would this Department have figures. The British Wind Energy Association states that the current number of wind turbines operating in the UK which are grid connected is 1,030, and the total installed capacity for operating wind turbines in the UK is 587 megawatts.
	Wind generation will provide an important contribution to the Government's target of generating 10 per cent. of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010. It is for wind farm developers to bring forward their proposals for future developments. There have been an encouraging number of applications for wind farms that have received planning consent and I expect this trend to continue.

WTO Negotiations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent steps she has taken to protect water services in developing countries within the WTO negotiations.

Mike O'Brien: Water services are the responsibility of individual WTO member countries, who are responsible for the regulatory environment and any other requirements on the provision of water services. The Department for International Development (DFID) provides technical assistance in a number of developing countries aimed at improving regulatory capacity. DFID also provides a range of trade-related support to help developing countries pursue their interests with respect to WTO agreements.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Al-Qaeda

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of co-ordinated al-Qaeda activity against British interests abroad.

Denis MacShane: Al-Qaeda and related groups continue to pose a significant global threat, including to British interests abroad. The mounting of more than one attack simultaneously is a technique that has been employed by such terrorist groups. It remains vital for the international community to maintain a co-operative and comprehensive approach to tackling international terrorism. The capture of a significant number of senior al-Qaeda figures and the disruption of terrorist operations, planning, financing and support as a result of the international effort, has had, and continues to have, a substantial negative impact on the organisation.

Departmental Computer Security

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been (a) budgeted and (b) spent by his Department since April 2002 on (i) combating computer fraud, (ii) preventing theft of computers and (iii) safeguarding the security of information held on computer; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) manages the security of its information, including information held on its computer systems, in accordance with the guidance given in the Manual of Protective Security, a comprehensive body of policy and interdepartmentally agreed security standards that is issued by the Cabinet Office.
	It is not possible to identify the resources devoted to these activities, since they form a part of the FCO's overall effort to combat illegal and unauthorised actions against its computer and other systems, and the theft of official assets from its buildings.
	The FCO's internal auditing services are designed to deter and detect all types of fraud, including ensuring that anti-fraud controls are integrated into all systems at the development stage.
	Internal security and access controls are in part designed to act as a deterrent against theft of official assets.
	IT security controls, including auditing, are deployed to safeguard the information held on official IT systems.
	The FCO is also a full participant in the current programme of compliance with BS7799, the British Standard for Information Security, and expects to achieve this by the end of 2003.

Departmental Staff

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many jobs under the remit of his Department in (a) the core Department, (b) non-departmental public bodies, (c) executive agencies, (d) independent statutory bodies, organisations and bodies financially sponsored by his Department and (e) embassy and consular are in (i) Scotland, (ii) each region in England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) overseas, broken down by (A) whole-time equivalent jobs and (B) the percentage per individual Department, body or organisation.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  London East East Midlands 
			  Staff Percentage Staff Percentage Staff Percentage 
		
		
			 FCO(2)   
			 (i) UK based 2,430.00 41.53 0.00 0.00 970.00 16.58 
			 (ii) Locally employed (LE) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 NDPBs(3)   
			 Britain-Russia Centre 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe 4.20 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Council 621.00 8.51 4.00 0.05 1.00 0.01 
			 Great Britain-China Centre 5.40 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission 2.50 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy 10.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 Wilton Park(4) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 BBC   
			 World Service 1,290.00 82.27 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Monitoring 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
		
	
	
		
			  West Midlands South East South West 
			  Staff Percentage Staff Percentage Staff Percentage 
		
		
			 FCO(2)   
			 (i) UK based 0.00 0.00 120.00 2.05 0.00 0.00 
			 (ii) Locally employed (LE) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 NDPBs(3)   
			 Britain-Russia Centre 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Council 2.00 0.03 20.00 0.27 3.00 0.04 
			 Great Britain-China Centre 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 Wilton Park(4) 0.00 0.00 69.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 BBC   
			 World Service 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Monitoring 0.00 0.00 391.00 75.48 0.00 0.00 
		
	
	
		
			  North East North West Yorkshire 
			  Staff Percentage Staff Percentage Staff Percentage 
		
		
			 FCO(2)   
			 (i) UK based 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 (ii) Locally employed (LE) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 NDPBs(3)   
			 Britain-Russia Centre 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Council 2.00 0.03 362.00 3.96 2.00 0.03 
			 Great Britain-China Centre 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 Wilton Park(4) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 BBC   
			 World Service 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Monitoring 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
		
	
	
		
			  Wales Northern Ireland Scotland 
			  Staff Percentage Staff Percentage Staff Percentage 
		
		
			 FCO(2)   
			 (i) UK based 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 (ii) Locally employed (LE) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 NDPBs(3)   
			 Britain-Russia Centre 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 British Council 7.00 0.10 26.00 0.36 37.00 0.51 
			 Great Britain-China Centre 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 Wilton Park(4) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			
			 BBC   
			 World Service 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Monitoring 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
		
	
	
		
			  Overseas 
			  Staff Percentage Total  
		
		
			 FCO(2)
			 (i) UK based 2,331.00 39.84 (2)5,851.00 
			 (ii) Locally employed (LE) 9,792.00 100.00 (2)9,792.00 
			 
			 NDPBs(3)
			 Britain-Russia Centre 0.00 0.00 (3)0.00 
			 British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe 0.00 0.00 4.20 
			 British Council 6,213.00 85.11 (4)7,300.00 
			 Great Britain-China Centre 0.00 0.00 5.40 
			 Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission 0.00 0.00 2.50 
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy 0.00 0.00 10.00 
			 
			 Wilton Park(4) 0.00 0.00 69.00 
			 
			 BBC
			 World Service 278.00 17.73 1,568.00 
			 Monitoring 127.00 24.52 518.00 
		
	
	(2) The staff numbers for FCO include staff working at posts overseas, and include consular staff.
	(3) As of 1 April 2003 the FCO no longer sponsors the Britain-Russia Centre.
	(4) The staff figures for British Council include staff on local contracts and teachers on contract.

Diego Garcia

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 24 February to the hon. Member for Hereford (Mr. Keetch), Official Report, column 245W, on Diego Garcia, what stocks of anti-personnel landmines are held on Diego Garcia; what assurances the Government received from the United States during 2003 relating to munitions kept on Diego Garcia; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: UK officials raised these issues in the course of the annual bilateral talks on the British Indian Ocean Territory in June 2003. US officials assured us that no anti-personnel landmines are stored on Diego Garcia.

Diego Garcia

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 15 July to the hon. Member for Hereford (Mr. Keetch), Official Report, column 193W, on Diego Garcia, whether prisoners have been held in (a) US vessels and (b) US merchant vessels chartered by the US Government moored in Diego Garcia waters; what jurisdiction such prisoners would fall under; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The United States Government have explicitly assured us that there have never been any prisoners in detention on any US vessels moored in Diego Garcia waters. The British Government are satisfied that this is correct.

Iraq

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of reports from members of the Christian community in Iraq that they have been subject to assaults, murder and discrimination since the commencement of military action in Iraq earlier this year.

Bill Rammell: The British Office in Baghdad has received no reports from members of the Christian community suggesting any form of discrimination against them since the commencement of military action in Iraq. However, FCO Ministers have received correspondence from MPs passing on constituents' concerns about religious freedom in Iraq. Our staff in Iraq meet regularly with representatives of many Iraqi political and religious groups, including Christians, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Iraq

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received in respect of the position of the Christian community in Iraq.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and the British Office in Baghdad have not received any formal representations in respect of the position of the Christian community in Iraq. We have had some correspondence from MPs and others on the subject of religious freedom in the country.

Iraq

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many police officers from each police authority volunteered in response to the request to go to Iraq to help train the Iraqi Police Force; how many will be going; and for how long.

Bill Rammell: With the agreement of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary asked the Association of Chief Police Officers to seek up to 200 volunteers to create a pool of United Kingdom police officers for training for potential deployment to Iraq. The pool is intended to sustain the deployment of up to 100 United Kingdom officers at any one time. Some may be deployed to a third country to assist in the out of country training of the Iraqi Police service. In the event of deployment, secondments will be for a period of six to twelve months.
	We are continuing to receive applications and have started the selection process. To date, we have received in excess of 230 applications from 23 forces.

North Korea

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations the Government have made (a) directly and (b) through the UN Security Council to the North Korean Government on their nuclear weapons programme.

Bill Rammell: The Government make all representations to the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) directly, through our Embassy in Pyongyang and through the DPRK Embassy in London. We continue to express our concerns about North Korea's nuclear programmes to the DPRK authorities on a regular basis. I also raised the issue with DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon during his visit to London in April this year.

Telecommunications

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what interruptions of service his Department's telecommunications network has suffered since March.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a Private Finance Initiative contract for the provision of its telecommunications services which gives an overall operational availability of at least 98.5 per cent. Monthly service reports confirm that this requirement is being met or exceeded. There are typically 6070 failures per month on a network covering over 170 locations worldwide. Many of these failures last just a few minutes and some occur out of office hours. Around 40 per cent. of failures are caused by local in-country electrical supply problems. The introduction of dedicated satellite links to the FCO's more remote embassies has significantly improved network reliability.

Titanic Agreement

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the letter of 12 August, from the Under-Secretary of State, when he expects the Titanic Agreement to come into force; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The situation remains the same as in my letter of 12 August 2003 to my hon. Friend. The Agreement is being prepared for signature by the UK and will enter into force when it has been signed by two States.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Astra Training Services

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has commissioned into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Astra Training Services; what obligation the Government have to recompense former employees for lost pension payments; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: I have been asked to reply.
	My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Mudie), the responsible Minister at the time, carried out a review of the Astra collapse in 1999. That review concluded that the Government did not have any case to answer to recompense former Astra employees for lost pensions. Although I have a great deal of sympathy for the situation of former Astra employees, I consider that this is a private matter between those former Astra employees and the trustees, Fountain Trustee Limited.

Child Support Agency

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that the Child Support Agency investigates the financial status of absent parents found to be in maintenance arrears.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Brian Jenkins, dated 11 September 2003
	The Secretary of State in replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You ask what steps he is taking to ensure that the Child Support Agency investigates the financial status of absent parents found to be in maintenance arrears.
	When any non-resident parent is found to be in arrears, Child Support Agency caseworkers use a standardised process and approach to secure outstanding debt. This generally involves a caseworker contacting the non-resident parent by telephone to establish the non-resident parent's financial position. This would be the starting point to establishing how they wish to address the outstanding maintenance and pay arrears. If there is evidence that the non-resident parent knowingly provides false information this is referred to a specialist fraud team for full investigation.

Child Support Agency

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will (a) enable and (b) encourage the Child Support Agency to make deduction of earnings orders against self-employed absent parents;
	(2)  what action he is taking to align the processes by which the Child Support Agency treats self-employed absent parents and PAYE absent parents.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Brian Jenkins, dated 11 September 2003
	The Secretary of State in replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You ask what action is being taken to align the processes by which the Child Support Agency treats self-employed absent parents and PAYE absent parents.
	You also asked if he will (a) enable and (b) encourage the Child Support Agency to make deduction of earnings orders against self employed absent parents.
	The Child Support Agency calculates maintenance due from employed and self-employed non-resident parents using broadly the same processes. In essence this requires the non-resident parent to verify their declared income and if we are satisfied, for a calculation to be made.
	Deductions from earnings orders require an employer to deduct money from the salary of their employee. For self-employed non-resident parents, this method of collecting maintenance is not normally appropriate. Instead we deploy a range of alternative enforcement mechanisms, including:
	(a) Levying of distress involving the use of Bailiffs
	(b) Establishing a third party debt orderallowing money owed to the debtor to be frozen and sent to us to cover the outstanding debt
	(c) Establishing a charging orderregistering the debt against certain assets owned by the debtor
	(d) Registering a County Court judgement, which may affect the debtors credit rating
	(e) Applying for a warrant to commit the debtor to prison or for an order preventing them from holding or obtaining a driving licence.
	The position I describe applies to England and Wales with a different but broadly similar approach in Scotland.
	There are no current proposals to align enforcement arrangements to ensure exactly the same approach is taken to achieve compliance.

Child Support Agency

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding the Child Support Agency received in 200203; and how many parents he estimates are not contributing to their children's welfare because they cannot be found.

Chris Pond: The operation of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. James Wray, dated 11 September 2003
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You ask what funding the Child Support Agency received in 2002/03; and how many parents he estimates are not contributing to their children's welfare because they cannot be found.
	Our annual report for 2002/03 indicates that we received 215 million as funding for core running costs. I estimate that at the end of June we do not hold a current address for around 100,000 non resident parents. The majority of these are not likely to have a current maintenance assessment requiring a payment but I do not have precise figures.

Community Care Grants

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) highest, (b) lowest, (c) mean and (d) median and (e) modal amount was for community care grants given as a result of domestic violence in each year since 1998.

Chris Pond: The available information is in the table, data for other years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		Community care grants awarded to victims of domestic violence: 200001
		
			   
		
		
			 Highest amount 3,275 
			 Lowest amount 4 
			 Mean amount 672 
			 Median amount 604 
			 Modal amount 300 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The scan contains the total amount awarded for each application just after the latest decision on it during 200001. The quantities asked for (except the modal amount) given by the scan will therefore be greater than or equal to those for initial awards and less than or equal to those for final awards.
	2. The lowest amount was requested and awarded in full under Direction 4(b), ie for travelling expenses.
	3. The modal amount corresponds to just 1.1 per cent of awards to victims of domestic violence.
	4. Data are for Great Britain.
	5. The information relates only to those people who have been awarded community care grants specifically as a result of domestic violence. Community care grants may also have been awarded for other reasons to other people who have been the victims of domestic violence.
	6. Figures are rounded to the nearest .
	Source:
	Scan of the Social Fund Computer Systems.

Disability Bill

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to introduce a Disability Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 January 2003, Official Report, columns 1213WS.

Housing Benefit

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  who he recommended as preferred suppliers for the software package required by local authorities for housing benefit;
	(2)  whether he considered a single software package provider for local authorities with respect to housing benefit.

Chris Pond: Local authorities have statutory responsibility for the administration of housing benefit, and have complete autonomy to select and contract with the software provider of their choice. It would, therefore, be inappropriate for the Department to consider a single software provider or recommend a preferred supplier.
	We do, however, provide local authorities with good practice advice in the management of contracts with software providers.

Housing Benefit

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will allow an open tender for the delivery of housing benefit in Swale;
	(2)  if he will send an emergency team to Swale borough council to resolve delays in housing benefit.

Chris Pond: Local authorities are statutory independent bodies responsible for the administration of housing benefit. A decision to offer the delivery of housing benefit for tender is ordinarily a matter for the individual authority.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has powers to direct an authority to put its benefits administration out to tender in prescribed circumstances, namely when: the authority has failed to meet the standards of administration set out in a previously issued direction; or the authority is failing to meet the requirements of the legislation relating to Best Value, particularly where it is failing to put in place the necessary steps to improve its benefits administration.
	However, these powers would only be used as a matter of last resort. The Government's policy is to work with, and to lend appropriate support to, struggling authorities in order to achieve sustained improvement. In line with this policy, our Departmental Help Team, a multi disciplinary team of management consultants and benefits practitioners who, by invitation, work with authorities experiencing difficulties, is due to visit Swale borough council on 29 September.

Housing Benefit

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many local authorities who distribute housing benefit have contracts with Capita.

Chris Pond: Seven local authorities contract out their benefit administration to Capita. In addition, Capita also offers a range of other services to local authorities; however, a record of those contracts is not held centrally.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Family Courts

Vincent Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether he has consulted solicitors on the proposed re-organisation of family courts in London.

David Lammy: The Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (GLMCA), which has responsibility for magistrates courts in the Greater London area, has recently closed a consultation period on the future organisation of its family proceedings courts. The GLMCA is currently considering the responses to its consultation paper and I am sure that it will wish to take into account the views of all involved before settling its plans. Unless a matter is referred to the Lord Chancellor according to statute this Department is not able to intervene.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

School Budgets

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools will start the school year with a budget deficit.

David Miliband: Figures for balances are collected at the end of each financial year. The latest complete figures are for 31 March 2002, when balances stood at 1.1 billion. Figures for 31 March 2003 are due in October.

Teach First

Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the number of teachers recruited by schools since September 2002 as a result of Teach First.

Stephen Twigg: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr. Khabra).

Adult Education

Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the operation of the Adult Learning Grant pilots.

Ivan Lewis: The Adult Learning Grant pilots started this month in 10 local Learning and Skills Council areas. The grant offers up to 30 a week to help adults in further education with the costs of learning. Some 80 colleges and other further education providers are involved, together with other national and local partners. The pilots will help us establish the best operational design for future adult learning grants.

Arson

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in each of the last five years have been subject to arson attacks; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Department does not collect these figures, but takes the problem of arson in schools very seriously.
	If a fire should happen in a school, the Department's primary concern is for the safety of pupils, teachers and other users. Regulation 17 of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 requires that every part of a school building, and of the land provided for a school, shall be such that the safe escape of the occupants in case of fire is reasonably assured. Schools are also covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and by subsequent related regulations. These include aspects of fire safety.
	Further to this, the Department has produced the guide Fire Safety, which includes advice on how to reduce the risks of arson attacks. This complements our guidance on reducing crime in schools, such as the booklet Improving Security in Schools and the video Can You See What They See? We also have a school security websitewww.dfes.gov.uk/schoolsecuritv.
	Officials from my Department sit on the Arson in Schools Working Group, a group of experts representing the insurance industry, the fire and police services, local authorities and Government Departments. One of its outputs has been the publication of the guide How to Combat Arson in Schools, which is available free and has been well received by schools.

Children's Centres

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the progress made in establishing children's centres.

Margaret Hodge: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given earlier today to my hon. Friends the Members for Brent, North (Mr. Gardiner) and for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths).

Children's Social Services

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will ring-fence additional funds for children's social services.

Margaret Hodge: When my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, announced additional resources for children's social services on 17 July 2003, Official Report, column 45558, he said that the details would be given in the autumn.

Class Sizes

Stephen Dorrell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in Leicestershire have class sizes of more than 30 for seven to 11-year-olds.

Stephen Twigg: As at January 2003 there were 107 schools in Leicestershire with key stage 2 classes taught by one teacher where there were more than 30 pupils.

Departmental Staff

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) special advisers, (b) press officers, (c) civil servants, (d) advisers to civil servants and (e) permanent staff were working for his Department in each year since 1996.

Charles Clarke: The numbers of Special Advisers and Press Officers in my Department for the years in question were:
	
		
			  Special adviser Press officer 
		
		
			 1997 3 20.5 
			 1998 3 29.5 
			 1999 3 28 
			 2000 3 28 
			 2001 2 (5)23 
			 2002 2 26 
			 2003 2 23.5 
		
	
	(5) This excludes five members of staff who transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions following the Machinery of Government changes in 2001.
	The term adviser to civil servants is not recognised.
	Information on permanent civil service staff numbers in each department and agency is contained in Table C of the annual publication Civil Service Statistics. Copies of the publication are laid in the Libraries of both Houses. The latest edition, based on April 2002 data, was published on 24 July 2003 and provides details of staff numbers between 1996 and 2002. The staff numbers include Press Officers.
	Alternatively, this information is available at the following address on the Cabinet Office Statistics website: http://www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics/css.htm

Fresh Start

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) failing schools have closed and (b) new schools opened under the Fresh Start programme since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: Since January 2000, 29 failing schools have closed and 25 new schools have opened under the Fresh Start programme. In three cases, two adjacent failing schools have closed, to be replaced by a single Fresh Start school. In another four cases, there has been an amalgamation of a failing and a non failing school to create a new institution. One Fresh Start school, Telegraph Hill in Lewisham, which opened in 1999 and was subsequently deemed to be failing, closed in August 2001.

Further Education

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what mechanisms are in place to ensure that further education colleges offer a wide variety of courses; and what precautions are in place to prevent further education colleges from cutting back on certain types of courses which do not contribute to those colleges meeting Government targets.

Alan Johnson: Further education colleges themselves determine the range and volume of courses they offer, following discussions with the relevant local Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The local LSC is responsible for ensuring that public funding supports a broad offer of post-16 education and training adequate to meet the needs of local communities, learners and employers, as well as focusing resources on national, regional and local priorities. Each college is in the process of agreeing a Development Plan with its local LSC which sets out how the college will contribute to the range of needs and priorities over the period 200306. Looking ahead, each local LSC is now leading a Strategic Area Review which aims to ensure that the future supply and distribution of courses offered by colleges and other providers offers breadth of choice and high quality to local people. The pattern of provision across a local area, and the precise mix and volume of provision offered by individual colleges, will and should evolve over time. We do not propose to put in place artificial constraints to prevent that. We have made clear our intention that we expect local LSCs to maintain a broad range of post-16 provision for local people and are confident that the mechanisms above will deliver this.

GCSEs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what boundaries were set by each awarding body for GCSE grades A*-U in (a) English Language and (b) English Literature from 1988 to 2002; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The hon. Member will be aware from my answer to his earlier question on the grade boundaries for mathematics (123952) that information on grade boundaries is not routinely collected.
	This is matter for QCA. Although QCA has access to detailed information on the grade boundaries set in all subjects at GCSE for each awarding body, further work will be required on this data to present it in the form requested. It will be lodged in the House of Commons Library in due course and will show the grade boundary marks for grades A*-G, 'U' does not constitute a grade it signifies an unclassified result.

GCSEs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 10 May 2003, Official Report, column 784W, on GCSE point scores, what the average capped GCSE point score was in (a) French, (b) Spanish and (c) German in 2003 for pupils in (i) specialist languages colleges and (ii) non-selective maintained schools; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The 2003 GCSE data required to answer this question is not yet available. Once the data are available, towards the middle of October, the answer will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Higher Education

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will take steps to improve arrangements for the distribution of higher education research funding.

Alan Johnson: The Government are committed to supporting and encouraging the highest quality research to ensure that we remain internationally competitive. On behalf of the Government the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocates research funding selectively to universities according to the quality and volume of their research activity. HEFCE is currently reviewing its research funding method for future years and consulting stakeholders on proposed changes.

Intermediate Skills

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action he is taking to increase the level of intermediate skills in the United Kingdom.

Ivan Lewis: The Secretary of State's responsibilities for skills are limited to England. Responsibility for the rest of the United Kingdom rests with the devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
	We are taking forward a range of measures designed to raise the levels of intermediate skills. On the 9 July we published our National Skills Strategy. This White Paper sets out how we intend to address the challenge of ensuring that all employers have the right skills to support the success of their business, and individuals have the skills they need to be employable.
	The skills strategy builds on our recent proposals to reform vocational routes for young people. It includes a new entitlement to free learning for those adults without a good skills foundation. We will also provide targeted support to meet priorities identified by sectors and regions, with the emphasis on technician and higher craft level skills. We will strengthen modern apprenticeships and lift the age cap, so that adults as well as young people can benefit from a high-quality vocational route to employment and further learning.
	From September this year, we are piloting a new learning grant for some adults in further education in 10 pilot areas, and we will provide better advice and guidance on skills, training and qualifications, so that people know what is available, what the benefits are, and where to go. By summer 2004, a full network of Sector Skills Councils will be in place to identify skill needs in their sectors and stimulate action by employers to meet those needs.

Learning and Skills Councils

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many colleges of further education are located in each Learning and Skills Council area.

Alan Johnson: The information requested is provided in the table:
	
		
			 Local LSC name Number 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire and Luton 4 
			 Berkshire 5 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 11 
			 Black Country 7 
			 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole 3 
			 Cambridgeshire 6 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 8 
			 County Durham 4 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 7 
			 Cumbria 5 
			 Derbyshire 3 
			 Devon and Cornwall 10 
			 Essex 10 
			 Gloucestershire 5 
			 Greater Manchester 27 
			 Greater Merseyside 11 
			 Hampshire and Isle Of Wight 22 
			 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 9 
			 Hertfordshire 4 
			 Humberside 9 
			 Kent and Medway 8 
			 Lancashire 13 
			 Leicestershire 8 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland 4 
			 London Central 14 
			 London East 14 
			 London North 9 
			 London South 11 
			 London West 7 
			 Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 8 
			 Norfolk 6 
			 North Yorkshire 7 
			 Northamptonshire 4 
			 Northumberland 1 
			 Nottinghamshire 9 
			 Shropshire 6 
			 Somerset 6 
			 South Yorkshire 8 
			 Staffordshire 9 
			 Suffolk 4 
			 Surrey 11 
			 Sussex 14 
			 Tees Valley 12 
			 Tyne and Wear 6 
			 West of England 6 
			 West Yorkshire 18 
			 Wiltshire and Swindon 4 
			 Total 397 
		
	
	Notes
	1. In Greater Manchester the Co-operative College and Bridge College are independent and do not receive FE funding from the LSC. However, they have the legal status of FE colleges and are therefore included in the numbers above.
	2. In North Yorkshire there is a similar situation with Henshaw's College. This does not receive FE funding from the LSC but is an FE college in legal terms.
	3. In Nottinghamshire, Welbeck College is the MOD College for the Army. This is funded by the MOD but has the legal status of an FE college.
	Source:
	Provider Performance DatabaseDfES, Provider Plus Governance and Organisation TeamDfES, and the LSC's Provider Information Management System, September 2003.

Ofsted

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 2 July 2003, Official Report, column 293W, what percentage of maintained secondary school lessons inspected by Ofsted between 19952002 in (a) Year 7, (b) Year 8, (c) Year 9, (d) Year 10 and (e) Year 11 were recorded as set by ability in (i) English, (ii) French, (iii) mathematics and (iv) science; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, David Bell, will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of his letter in the Library.

Physical Exercise

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans there are to respond to the recent Ofsted report concerning the quality of school physical exercise lessons; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 2 July 2003, Official Report, column 290W.

Re-offending

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research he has commissioned into a link between numeracy and re-offending by prisoners after release.

Ivan Lewis: We have commissioned the Office for National Statistics to measure the extent to which prisoners' literacy and numeracy are improved through their basic skills training, and how this relates to reducing re-offending and other aspects of their lives after release. We expect the final report to be available at the end of this year.

School Exclusion Appeals

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance notes have been sent by his Department to school exclusion appeals panels since 1998.

Ivan Lewis: Between 1998 and 2001 a number of changes were made to schools exclusion and LEA appeal panel arrangements. In 2003, Chapter 6 and Annex D of Circular 10/99 were superseded by guidance called Improving Behaviour and Attendance: Guidance on Exclusion from Schools and Pupil Referral Units ref DfES/0087/2003 and further reflected changes made to exclusion policy. The changes included:
	the requirement that panels balance the interests of the permanently excluded child with that of others in the school;
	preventing panels from reinstating a pupil solely on the basis of minor technicalities in prior procedure;
	changes to the composition of appeal panel members to include head teacher(s), school governor(s) and a lay member which brought with a wealth of school based experience;
	enabling panels to decide because of exceptional circumstances or other reasons it is not practical to require reinstatement when it would otherwise have been appropriate to have given such a direction.
	In addition, LEA Independent Appeal Panels were issued with an Exclusion Appeal Panels' training pack in 2001 (this was updated in 2003). This has equipped all LEAs with the resource to train their panel members on the changes.

Section 28

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions his Department has had with (a) the leader of Kent County Council and (b) officials at Kent County Council regarding section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Department has had no discussions with the leader of Kent County Council, or with officials, regarding Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988. Local Authorities do not determine sex education in schools and repeal of Section 28 will have no effect on what is taught. The Education Act 1996, as amended by the Learning and Skills Act 2000, places responsibility for sex and relationship education firmly on teachers and governors. Guidance sent to all schools in July 2000 makes this position clear.

Student Finance

David Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the name given to the student contribution towards tuition costs.

Charles Clarke: The White Paper The Future of Higher Education makes clear that, from 2006, neither students nor their families will have to make any contribution towards tuition costs while they are studying for their degree. Instead, they will be able to pay through a Graduate Contribution Scheme, as set out in the White Paper.

Student Finance

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to change the interest rates charged to students who receive loans from the Student Loans Company.

Alan Johnson: Student loans are not commercial loans. The Government subsidise the actual cost of interest on the loans. However, to make sure that all borrowers pay back the same amount that they borrowed in real terms, the Government uprates the value of what is owed in line with the general rate of inflation. This is done by using the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and fixing the interest charged to that rate. The interest rate on student loans is set every year from 1 September and is based on the RPI for the previous March. This is the only way in which it changes. There are no plans to change this basis of setting the interest charged on student loans.

Student Finance

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of top-up fees on the debt problem for students from a poorer background entering into a career in medicine.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 9 September 2003
	My Department has responsibility for fee support for English domiciled medical students in years 1 to 4 of their courses. During those years they have the same student support as any other eligible higher education students. Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary legislation, from 200607 students will be liable for tuition fees of up to a maximum of 3,000 pa which they can defer, adding to their loan instead. Students from poorer backgrounds will continue, as now, to receive means tested grants for fees of 1,125 pa (200304 rate). Three in ten of all students will also receive means tested Higher Education Grants of 1,000. Many poorer students should in addition be eligible for bursaries and other support from universities under arrangements agreed by the Office of Fair Access. We therefore anticipate only a small average increase annually in low income students' loans as a result of the introduction of variable fees, and thus in their debt on graduation.
	Fee support for English domiciled medical students in years five and six is the responsibility of the Department of Health. Currently students in those years pay no contributions to fees. In addition students may also receive a means tested NHS Bursary of up to 2,703 for those students studying in London. They remain eligible for the reduced rate of loan under the student support regulations. Department of Health Ministers have indicated that, whatever the future levels of tuition fees, they will take measures to ensure that any increase in the cost of university courses will not have an adverse impact on the supply, retention, diversity or quality of students on health professional courses, including medicine.

Student Finance

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will (a) defer the payment of tuition fees until after students have completed their university course and (b) freeze tuition fee levels.

Alan Johnson: Students at English Higher Education Institutions will be able to defer payment of tuition fees charged in respect of academic year 2006 onwards until after they have completed their course: they will start repaying when their salary is above 15,000. The Government has made it clear that HE Institutions need greater levels of funding to compete internationally, and that it is right to seek a greater contribution from students towards the cost of their course. It therefore intends to give HE Institutions the freedom to charge fees of between 0 and 3,000 from 2006: those that wish to charge above the standard fee will only be able to do so if they have an access agreement approved by the Office of Fair Access (OFFA).

University Teachers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to change the London allowance for university teachers; what representations he has received regarding an increase; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The Department has no plans to intervene in what is a matter for universities themselves. As universities are independent and autonomous bodies the Government plays no part in setting the levels of pay in the higher education sector, including London weighting. These are subject to regulations between employers, their staff and their representative trade union bodies. Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and myself have had correspondence and discussions with the unions for staff in higher education and the universities on this issue and we have stressed that we cannot intervene on this matter.

Vocational Qualifications

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action he is taking to increase qualifications at (a) apprenticeship, (b) skilled craft and (c) technician level.

Ivan Lewis: We will reform the qualifications framework so that it is more flexible and responsive to employers' and learners' needs. In particular, we will strengthen and extend Modern Apprenticeships as a top quality vocational route, lifting the age cap so that adults can benefit. Through the Learning and Skills Council, we will improve standards in Modern Apprenticeships, engage more employers in providing them and ensure they meet employers' needs. Our target is that by 2004, 28 per cent. of young people will start a Modern Apprenticeship by age 22. We will also support individual learners through a new guarantee of free tuition for any adult without a good foundation of employability skills, so that many more can progress to skilled craft and technician level qualifications, and from there on to the Foundation Degree, a vocational, higher education qualification. We will test this approach from September 2004, before beginning to roll out nationally from 2005 onwards.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Explanatory Notes

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to ensure that Government departments make Explanatory Notes available (a) on the first day that a Bill is published and (b) well in advance of Second Reading.

Peter Hain: The usual practice is for Explanatory Notes to Government Bills to be made available with the Bill when it is first published. Only very occasionally has there been any delay, and in those cases the Explanatory Notes have been made available well in advance of Second Reading. Departments have been made aware of the importance of avoiding late publication.

TREASURY

Alcohol Imports

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the volume of (a) tax-paid wine and (b) tax-paid beer imported from EU member states in (i) 2002 and (ii) 2003.[R]

John Healey: UK trade imports of beer and wine from EU member states enter the UK free from taxes and duties levied in the exporting country but pay UK duty and tax on entry into this country.
	Imports into the UK arising from cross-border shopping or cross-channel passenger smuggling typically enter the UK having already paid duty and tax elsewhere in the EU and do not additionally pay UK tax and dutylegally so in the case of cross-border shopping, illegally so in the case of smuggling.
	The most recent available volumes of wine and beer imported into the UK where tax was paid in another EU member state are shown in the tables. Estimates for 2003 are not yet available.
	
		Cross-border shoppingfinancial year 200001
		
			  Million litres 
		
		
			 Beer (6)100 
			 Wine (6)100 
		
	
	(6) Rounded to the nearest 50 million litres.
	
		Cross-channel passenger smugglingcalendar year 2002
		
			  Million litres 
		
		
			 Beer (7)15 
			 Wine (7)5 
		
	
	(7) Rounded to the nearest 5 million litres.

Cigarette Imports

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax-paid cigarettes were imported from EU member states in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [R]

John Healey: UK trade imports of cigarettes from EU member states enter the UK free from taxes and duties levied in the exporting country but pay UK duty and tax on entry into this country.
	Imports into the UK arising from cross-border shopping or cross-channel passenger smuggling typically enter the UK having already paid duty and tax elsewhere in the EU and do not additionally pay UK tax and dutylegally so in the case of cross-border shopping, illegally so in the case of smuggling.
	The most recent available volumes of cigarettes imported into the UK where tax was paid in another EU member state are shown in the table. Estimates for 2003 are not available.
	
		Cigarettes
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Cross-border shoppingfinancial year 200102 (8)3.5 
			 Cross-channel passenger smugglingcalendar year 2002 (9)900 
		
	
	(8) Rounded to the nearest half billion sticks.
	(9) Rounded to the nearest hundred million sticks.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 24 July regarding a constituent, ref: 2/03382/2003.

Paul Boateng: I have replied to my hon. Friend.

Debt and Borrowing

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates will be the levels of (a) national debt and (b) government borrowing in each of the next five years.

Paul Boateng: I refer the hon. Member to table 2.7, Chapter 2 of the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report, Budget 2003, Building a Britain of economic strength and social justice.

European Court of Justice

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for public procurement policy of the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Helsinki buses case (18 September 2002) about the use of environmental criteria in public procurement.

Paul Boateng: There are no implications for the Government's public procurement policy stemming from the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Helsinki buses case. While the Court stated that it is permitted in principle to use criteria relating to the preservation of the environment when awarding a contract, the judgment makes it clear that such criteria must: be linked to the subject of the contract; not confer an unrestricted freedom of choice on the authority; be expressly mentioned in the contract documents or the tender notice; and comply with all the fundamental principles of Community law, in particular non-discrimination. This is in line with the UK's understanding of the position under the current EC procurement directives and is consistent with the Government's procurement policy based on value for money.

Net Income

Keith Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the net income of a family with two dependant children aged 18 and 12, with a gross income of 15,000 a year; and what assessment he has made of the sources of that net income.

Paul Boateng: A single full-time earner family with two dependent children aged 12 and 18 in full-time education and gross earnings of 15,000 a year will have an annual household income of nearly 16,600. This comprises the following elements:
	
		
			   
		
		
			 Gross earnings 15,000 
			 Income tax 2,050 
			 NICs 1,140 
			 Child benefit 1,390 
			 Child tax credit 3,390 
			 Total 16,590 
		
	
	As a result of direct tax and benefit measures introduced since 1997 a single earner household with gross earnings of 15,000 a year and two dependent children aged 12 and 18 in full-time education is now nearly 2,750 a year better off in real terms.

Poverty Reduction

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the role of international trade in the reduction of poverty in the poorest countries.

John Healey: According to figures produced by the World Bank, international trade, under the right conditions, has the ability to lift up to 300 million people out of poverty by 2015. Global trade talks need to deliver on the interests of developing countries. It is for this reason that the UK government is committed to the Doha Development Agenda of achieving a fairer world trade system for developing countries.

Privatisation

Frank Dobson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total amount received from the sale of (a) the electricity supply industry, (b) the water supply industry and (c) British Rail was, broken down by year in which revenue was received.

Paul Boateng: A detailed analysis of privatisation proceeds from 197980 to 199697 was published in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) 199798 (Cm 3601), Table 3.13. The outturn for 199697 and figures for subsequent years are shown in the table.
	
		Privatisation proceeds -- Billion
		
			  Electricity supply Water supply British Rail 
		
		
			 199697 1.5 0.0 1.4 
			 199798 0.8 0.0 0.9 
			 199899 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 19992000 0.5 0.0 0.0 
			 200102 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 200203 0.0 0.0 0.0

Unemployment Rates

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the unemployment rate is in (a) South Sefton, (b) postcode L20 and (c) the UK.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mrs. Claire Curtis-Thomas, dated 11 September 2003
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on what the unemployment rate is in (a) South Sefton, (b) postcode L20 and (c) the UK. I am replying in his absence. (128882)
	The United Kingdom unemployment rate for the three months ending June 2003 was 5.0%.
	Estimated unemployment rates for the South Sefton geographical area are not available. However, the latest estimated unemployment rate for the Sefton local authority area, for the 12 months to February 2002, is 5.0%.
	Estimated unemployment rates are not available for postcode areas. However, the number of claimants of the Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA) are available for postcode areas. In postcode district L20 there were 1,333 ISA claimants in July 2003.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

English Partnerships

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the initial version of the register of public land being compiled by English Partnerships will be (a) completed and (b) published.

Keith Hill: English Partnerships completed an initial register of surplus public sector land on 30 July 2003 and this is available to all Government departments, their agencies and non-departmental public bodies. English Partnerships are now working on a more interactive version of the register, which will allow public sector landowners to input data directly to it. Information from the register may be made public.

Housing

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the Government will increase the proportion of affordable housing as a condition of granting planning approval for major developments.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has published for consultation an update of the existing guidance on planning for affordable housing. This addresses a number of matters including the size of development that could be expected to contribute to affordable housing and the circumstances when this would be appropriate. The amount of affordable housing to be sought from residential development as a proportion of the overall dwelling provision on site is currently indicated by local authority development plans. There are no proposals to set proportions through national guidance.

Housing

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government took account of water, energy, and transport needs in the plans to build an additional 200,000 houses in South East England.

Keith Hill: The Government are taking full account of water, energy and transport needs.
	Discussions were held with water companies by consultants who undertook the growth area studies for Ashford, Milton Keynes/South Midlands and London-Stansted-Cambridge that were published last year. Further detailed local studies are under way to help determine infrastructure requirements. Discussions have taken place and will continue between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Water UK, involving the Department of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the water companies, the Environment Agency and OFWAT.
	The Government are committed to increasing the standard to which all publicly funded housing is built. From April 2003, all new homes funded by the Housing Corporation are required, as a condition of grant, to achieve an EcoHomes pass rating. Housing associations are encouraged to aim higher and achieve a good rating. English Partnerships are already working towards the higher very good benchmark on their mainstream site disposals. The Millennium Communities programme, a scheme being taken forward by English Partnerships, is working towards the excellent target.
	EcoHomes Standards cover matters such as access to public transport, proximity to local amenities, eco-labelling of white goods, provision of external space, the ecological value of the site, and water efficiency, all of which are outside the remit of Building Regulations. The revision of Part L of the Building Regulations, which deals with energy efficiency, that came into force last year is expected to produce savings of 1.4 million tonnes of carbon by 2010. The Energy White Paper announced a further review, with the aim of making further amendments by 2005. The review will seek to further reduce the carbon emissions from new homes, through measures like improving the thermal performance of the building envelopeboth of which are EcoHomes targets. The Government are also considering how improved water efficiency can be achieved in the private-funded housing sector within developments in South East England.
	Later this autumn, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be holding a Better Buildings Summit, in conjunction with the Department for Trade and Industry and DEFRA, to consider issues relating to the efficiency of all buildings. The outcomes of this summit will feed into future Government policy.
	Government transport investment of 2.2 billion in Thames Gateway and the three other growth areas will complement the 610 million the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investing in directly targeted resources over the next three years, and lever in a further 3 billion from public and private sector partners.

Planning

Kate Hoey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister over what timescale the Government expects local planning authorities (a) to have carried out (i) an assessment of needs and (ii) an audit of existing facilities and (b) to have adopted local standards of provision, as required by PPG17.

Yvette Cooper: Local planning authorities should undertake assessments of needs for open space, sports and recreational facilities, audits of existing facilities and set locally derived standards for provision, in accordance with guidance in PPG17. The timescale for this is not prescribed. Local authorities need to take the guidance in PPG17 into account in the preparation of development plans and the Government expect plans to be kept up-to-date and to properly reflect national policy guidance.
	PPG17 sets out the steps to be taken to maintain adequate supply of open space and sports and recreational facilities in the absence of a robust and up-to-date assessment by a local authority.

Property Gap Funding Scheme

Sydney Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in respect of (a) speculative and (b) bespoke developments, how many grants have been made under the business and commercial property gap funding scheme; what their total value is; to whom they have been made; what the total area of land involved is; and what proportion of the total land was previously undeveloped.

Keith Hill: The State aid approval for speculative and bespoke gap-funding of business and commercial developments enables English Partnerships, the Regional Development Agencies and Local Authorities to support private sector initial investment in land and property regeneration projects that would not have proceeded without public sector support.
	Speculative and bespoke gap-funding of business and commercial developments received approval from the European Commission in May last year and since then has been used to facilitate a number of projects through grants and other mechanisms, with the Regional Development Agencies providing over 25 million in support to projects under these approvals up to the end of the fiscal year 200203 and predict providing support of over 12 million for fiscal year 200304. It is expected that speculative and bespoke gap-funding will continue to enable projects to go ahead in the future.

Property Gap Funding Scheme

Sydney Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much additional money is being made available in 200304 to (a) English Partnerships, (b) Regional Development Agencies and (c) local authorities for making grants available under (i) the Business and Commercial Property Gap Funding Scheme, (ii) the Housing Gap Funding Scheme, (iii) the Heritage Aid Scheme and (iv) the Land Remediation/Dereliction Aid Scheme; and what resources were available under the former Partnership Investment Programme.

Keith Hill: State aid approvals are purely enabling actions, which allow English Partnerships, the Regional Development Agencies and Local Authorities to spend from their existing allocations in accordance with the State aid regime. No extra money has been made available through the granting of these approvals; they simply facilitate the aid granting bodies in providing support for regeneration from their existing budgets.
	English Partnerships' Partnership Investment Programme was financed from English Partnerships annual allocation; no money was ring-fenced within English Partnerships budget to finance the programme.

Public Buildings

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the Government will (a) adopt minimum standards for design for public buildings in the UK and (b) give priority to buildings of higher quality and that will offer long-term value to the community.

Yvette Cooper: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made clear to the House in his February statement on the Sustainable Communities plan that high quality design is a key element in delivering sustainable communities.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is already working hard to drive up standards of design for public buildings through our work with CABE and also our commitment to the Better Public Buildings Initiative, which expresses the Government's commitment to delivering quality in the buildings it procures, and across the public sector.
	Later this autumn, we will be holding a Better Buildings Summit, in conjunction with DTI and DEFRA, to consider issues relating to the design of all buildings. The outcomes of this summit will feed into future Government policy.
	The Government's planning policies expect good design to be the aim of all those involved in new development and to be encouraged everywhere. Securing good design is central to good planning.

Thames Gateway

Sydney Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in respect of the five strategic growth areas in the Thames Gateway area identified in his announcement on 30 July, Creating Sustainable CommunitiesMaking it Happen, what the average residential density required of the new housing developments is in order to meet the objective of providing 120,000 new homes by 2016.

Keith Hill: The Thames Gateway contains a large number and wide range of development sites. Densities of specific schemes will be determined through the local planning process. Schemes will be expected to make the best use of available land through well designed and attractive development that reflect Government policies including those relating to density set out in Planning Policy Guidance 3.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Aggregates

Michael Mates: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how much (a) virgin aggregate and (b) processed aggregate was used by the (i) public and (ii) private sectors in Northern Ireland in each financial year from 199899 to 200203;
	(2)  what quantity of (a) virgin aggregates and (b) processed aggregate products was imported into Northern Ireland in each financial year from 199899 to 200203.

Ian Pearson: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) carries out an annual survey in January under Article 18(1) of the Quarries (NI) Order 1983. Quarry owners are required to provide the Department with information on the output and value of the minerals extracted from each quarry and of the number of people employed. DETI publish the aggregated statistics, however, the specific information sought by the hon. Member is neither collected nor held by Northern Ireland Government Departments.

Attitudinal Research

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which (a) political parties, (b) other organisations and (c) individuals have been given access to the attitudinal research carried out by (i) Ulster Marketing Services and (ii) Milward Brown Ulster on behalf of the Department.

Paul Murphy: Attitudinal research carried out for the Northern Ireland Office by Ulster Marketing Services and Milward Brown Ulster was commissioned for internal use to inform the advice offered to Ministers by officials. The Northern Ireland Office has not given access to political parties or to any individuals or organisations outside Government.

Attitudinal Research

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was paid to (a) Ulster Marketing Services and (b) Milward Brown Ulster by the Department in each year since 1997.

Paul Murphy: In relation to total amounts spent by my Department on attitudinal research, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State on 13 May 2003, Official Report, column 206W. To single out amounts paid to a particular company would constitute a breach of commercial confidence.

Attitudinal Research

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many attitudinal surveys have been carried out by (a) Ulster Marketing Services and (b) Milward Brown Ulster which included research into voting intentions on behalf of the Department in each year since 1997.

Paul Murphy: No attitudinal surveys were carried out by Ulster Marketing Services in the years since 1997. One attitudinal survey was carried out by Milward Brown Ulster in 2002 and one in 2003. Research respondents are classified as adults rather than voters.

Attitudinal Research

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the material relating to attitudinal research carried out by (a) Ulster Marketing Services and (b) Milward Brown Ulster on behalf of the Department in each year since 1997.

Paul Murphy: The attitudinal research carried out by Ulster Marketing Services and Milward Brown Ulster was commissioned for internal use to inform the advice offered to Ministers by officials. The raw material was not prepared for publication and to do so would involve a disproportionate cost.

Business Rates

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has carried out of the effects of charging rates on industrial and manufacturing premises in North Belfast.

Ian Pearson: The decision to phase out industrial derating from 1 April 2005 over a seven-year period was taken following extensive consultation and various detailed assessments and analyses. These included Equality and Regulatory Impact Assessments at District Council level and New TSN analysis at Ward level. A specific evaluation was not carried out in respect of North Belfast. No contrary evidence emerged during the public consultation associated with the Equality Impact Assessments which ended on 8 July.
	Proposals for a hardship relief scheme that would be available in exceptional circumstances will be published in a policy paper later in the year. This paper will also cover the issue of a new and/or small business relief scheme. These proposals will also be informed by separate Impact Analyses.

Cancer Deaths (Killyleagh)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many deaths as a result of cancer there were in the Killyleagh area in each of the past five years.

Ian Pearson: In the years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, there were 10, 8, 5, 3 and 4 deaths respectively, caused by malignant neoplasms registered to residents of Killyleagh electoral ward within Down District Council.

Community Programmes

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money his Department has spent in each year since 1998 on community relations programmes; and what estimate he has made of the value for money of such expenditure.

John Spellar: The amount of money spent on community relations programmes in each of the last five financial years was as follows:
	
		
			 Year  
		
		
			 199899 12,741,741 
			 19992000 13,542,188 
			 200001 12,295,712 
			 200102 10,471,580 
			 200203 10,403,164 
			 TOTAL 59,454,385 
		
	
	The totals include funding provided under the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation 199599 (Peace I), the EU Physical, Social and Environment Sectoral Programme 199499 and the interim funding arrangements pending the coming into operation of the Peace II Programme.
	Regular independent evaluations of funding of community relations programmes are commissioned. Evaluations completed within the last 3 years of the funding provided to the Community Relations Council, District Council Community Relations Programme and Co-operation Ireland, which together amount to some 4.5 million of the mainstream Community Relations Programme provision of just over 5 million annually, were generally positive about the impact of their activities to promote better Community Relations in Northern Ireland. Both Programme and project evaluations carried out in relation to the EU funding have also been generally positive.

Connswater

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to ensure that the Connswater (a) river and (b) riverbanks are made free of litter and dumped materials.

Angela Smith: The removal of large items of litter, such as shopping trolleys, is the responsibility of the owner of the property through which the river flows. However, if the debris is restricting the flow, the Rivers Agency of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, as the body responsible for maintenance of the Connswater River as a drainage channel, will take action to remove the obstruction.
	With regard to sewage related litter from sewage overflows into the river, the Water Service of the Department for Regional Development has recently installed screens at the Connswater Road pumping station to help prevent sewage related debris from this source.
	In addition, the Water Service, in conjunction with Department of the Environment's Environment and Heritage Service, is at present undertaking a detailed Urban Pollution Management Study of the area associated with the Connswater River, based on a previously completed Drainage Area Plan. This work is examining the sewage collection system in the Connswater area, as well as how sewage is treated, and will identify potential solutions to control discharges of storm sewage and related litter into the Connswater River. The study is due to be completed in early 2004.

Conservation Areas

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who has responsibility for the designation of conservation areas in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Department of the Environment's Planning Service is responsible for the designation of conservation areas in Northern Ireland, and is empowered to do so under Article 50(1) of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

Disabled Children

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the recommendations of the Review Group set up in Northern Ireland to look into the test of resources for the Disabled Facilities Grant in relation to disabled children are; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: The Review Group that was set up to look at the issue hopes to report to me at the end of July/early August. I will provide a fuller reply when I have had the opportunity to consider its recommendations.

Disabled Home Adaptations

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average length of time taken was to carry out home adaptations after a recommendation by an occupational therapist in the last year for which figures are available.

John Spellar: The Northern Ireland Housing Executive measures the time taken from receipt of an Occupational Therapist (OT) recommendation to the commencement of works against agreed standards. Each adaptation is tailored to the specific needs of the individual person concerned. The length of time taken by a contractor to then complete a job is variable and can range from a few days, to a few months for extensions.
	From the receipt of OT recommendation to work starting, in the Public Sector, figures for the year 200203 are as follows:
	Lifts
	(93 per cent. within 22 weeks)
	While precise figures are not readily available against intermediate timescales it is considered that the bulk of cases are in fact started within 12 weeks.
	Extensions
	13 per cent. started within 30 weeks
	48 per cent. started within 46 weeks
	68 per cent. started within 60 weeks
	This type of work requires building control and planning approval.
	The Housing Executive is continuing to implement the recommendations of the Joint Fundamental review the aim of which was to improve all aspects of the adaptations service including the reduction of times. Specific actions include moving to a new system of contracting with a single tender covering multiple adaptations, which will allow a greater percentage of adaptations to be carried out within 60 weeks and agreement has been reached with Planning and Building control to streamline applications in respect of adaptations. The Housing Executive will keep the timescales under review and implement further improvements where possible.
	Where small scale works such as change of heating systems, handrails and lowering cooker mains switches etc. are required the Northern Ireland Housing Executive is able to undertake this work without referral to an OT.
	In the private sector adaptations are through Disabled Facility Grants and in 20022003, the average time taken between the receipt of, and completion of work following, an OT recommendation was 2 years.
	Much of this period is outside the control of the Housing Executive and includes the time
	i. taken by the applicant to complete his/her formal application, including getting building control and planning approval, to enable the Housing Executive to approve a grant (the applicant is normally allowed 6 months at this stage);
	ii. post approval, when it is up to the applicant to engage a contractor to undertake and complete the works (for which up to a further 12 months is normally allowed).
	With the introduction of the new legislation, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive will have the power to agree with the Occupational Therapy Service a range of smallscale works that it can carry out without having to consult the OT service. This will be in line with the works it undertakes for its own tenants.

Disabled Home Adaptations

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what efforts are being made to reduce the waiting lists for assessments by occupational therapists in respect of disabled housing adaptations in (a) the Down Lisburn Trust, (b) the Banbridge Craigavon Trust and (c) the Newry and Mourne Trust; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: Down Lisburn HSS Trust has already recruited additional staff but is seeking further staff to reduce waiting lists. Interviews are scheduled for 24 July. A pilot scheme whereby an occupational therapist is locally based to ensure an earlier assessment is being evaluated and will be rolled out in the trust this year.
	Craigavon and Banbridge HSS Trust has set up two clinics at Lurgan Hospital and Copperfields (Banbridge). Evening assessments have also been introduced to ensure reduced waiting times.
	Newry and Mourne HSS Trust has recruited two additional occupational therapists to commence employment on 16 July to address the waiting lists.

Disabled Home Adaptations

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are waiting for assessments by occupational therapists in respect of disabled housing adaptations in each of the health and social services trusts in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Information is not available on the number of persons awaiting occupational therapy assessment in respect of disabled housing adaptations, as an assessment for housing adaptation can only be designated as such when the assessment is completed. The total number of persons in each health and social services trust awaiting assessment by a community occupational therapist is shown in the table in respect of the position at 31 March 2003, the latest date for which such information is available.
	
		Persons awaiting assessment by community occupational therapists, by trust, 31 March 2003
		
			 Trust Persons awaiting assessment 
		
		
			 Down Lisburn 1,031 
			 North and West Belfast 1,086 
			 South and East Belfast 205 
			 Ulster 362 
			 Causeway 670 
			 Homefirst 1,698 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 277 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 627 
			 Newry and Mourne 200 
			 Foyle 764 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 1,182 
			 Northern Ireland Total 8,102

Dog Attacks

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) dog attacks have been reported and (b) complaints have been received by the Department of Environment regarding dogs in and around the grounds of Kirkistown Castle in the last 12 months; whether the land, lane leading to, and the grounds in which Kirkistown Castle lies are the property of the Department of Environment; and what action has been taken to prevent dogs from adjoining properties roaming in and around the grounds of the Castle.

Angela Smith: Kirkistown Castle, and the land on which it is sited, was acquired by the government in 1968. The site is now owned by the Department of the Environment and managed by the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS). To allow public access to the Castle, a legal right of way over the lane leading to the site was established when it was acquired. The lane also provides access to a privately owned house, adjacent to the Castle site. The boundary of the site owned by the Department has been fenced in accordance with the terms set out in the acquisition documents. This fencing is believed to be dog-proof.
	EHS has no record of receiving from the public any reported incidents of attacks or other complaints about dogs in or around the Castle grounds in the last 12 months. Its own tour guide reported an incident involving herself on 17 July 2003 and this is now under investigation
	The Castle is open to the public on a limited basis during July and August each year, when a tour guide is on site. Outside these months, signage identifies the Castle as being managed by EHS and provides a telephone number so that visitors can contact the local warden, (based at Scrabo Country Park), should they encounter any problems relating to the site.

Education and Library Board Staff

Seamus Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether it is the policy of the Department of Education to keep its (a) canteen workers and (b) cleaners within the employment of Education and Library Boards.

Jane Kennedy: Responsibility for the terms and conditions of employment of canteen workers and cleaning staff lies with each of the Education and Library Boards, which are the employers of such staff. It will be a matter for boards, in consultation with the Department, to decide how best to handle the employment arrangements for such staff on a case-by-case basis.

Energy Efficiency

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been put in place in each Government Department to promote energy efficiency in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: The energy efficiency targets embodied in the Climate Change Programme of November 2000 were included in the Northern Ireland Executive's Programme for Government and were also adopted by the Northern Ireland Office for the areas within its control. While it is impossible to list all specific measures taken to achieve these targets, they include programmes of training in energy awareness for key staff, regular monitoring of buildings' energy performance, and investment in energy efficiency measures.
	These measures have resulted in the following year on year savings since 1997:
	
		
			 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 723,000 921,000 846,000 761,000 895,000 1,042,000 
		
	
	The Office Estate occupied by Northern Ireland government departments is currently purchasing 16.2 per cent. of its electricity requirements from non-fossil fuels, well ahead of the Climate Change target of 10 per cent. by 2008.

Equality Commission

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed in the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: At 30 June 2003 the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland employed 118 people.

Fishing Permits (Strangford)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will amend the relevant legislation in order to permit the purchasing of fishing permits for Strangford Lough as part of the ADSEA project.

Angela Smith: Legal advice to the Department indicates that the proposed legislative amendment is outside the legislative competence of an Order in Council under the Northern Ireland Act 2001 as it would make provision which is contrary to Community Law and/or contravenes a right granted under the European Convention on Human Rights.
	Accordingly, it is not proposed to amend the legislation.

Gap Funding

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much gap funding has been awarded, broken down by district council area; and what the purpose of each award was.

Ian Pearson: A list detailing the amount of gap funding awarded by district council area, and a list of projects awarded gap funding by district council area have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The purpose of each gap funding award was to ensure that projects funded under the 199499 round of Structural Funds (PEACE I and The Northern Ireland Single Programme) which were considered likely to be eligible for support under the new round, 200006, were sustained during the negotiation of the PEACE II and Building Sustainable Prosperity Programmes.
	
		Table 1: List of the amounts of gap funding awarded by district council area -- 
		
			 District council area Amount of gap funding awarded (PEACE II) Amount of gap funding awarded (BSP) 
		
		
			 Antrim 89,301  
			 Ards 245,900 87,934 
			 Armagh 594,875  
			 Ballymena 151,751 58,918 
			 Ballymoney 73,669  
			 Banbridge 104,198  
			 Belfast 8,671,977 483,891 
			 Carrickfergus 119,888  
			 Castlereagh 53,456  
			 Coleraine 76,445 46,105 
			 Cookstown 294,243  
			 Craigavon 488,620 153,948 
			 Derry 1,938,126 684,987 
			 Down 178,633  
			 Dungannon 590,515  
			 Fermanagh 401,295 35,508 
			 Larne 183,286  
			 Limavady 285,284 77,918 
			 Lisburn 570,509  
			 Magherafelt 128,190 142,750 
			 Moyle 181,422  
			 Newry and Mourne 580,326 51,309 
			 Newtownabbey 108,341 99,466 
			 North Down 119,293  
			 Omagh 451,493  
			 Strabane 544,305  
			 Unclassified 476,782 15,442,818 
			 Total 17,702,123 17,365,552 
		
	
	Note:
	Unclassified successful gap funding applications are those that either clearly benefited two or more district councils or that don't contain sufficient address information and therefore cannot be classified within any specific district council.
	
		Table 2: List of projects awarded gap funding by district council area
		
			  Antrim district council 
		
		
			  
			  
			 BSP N/a 
			 Peace Harps project 
			  Just Kids Afterschools Club 
			  Youth Sport North East

Hare Imports

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if there is a requirement to notify a local divisionary veterinary manager of an intention to import hares from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland; and how many notifications relating to hares were received during 2002.

Ian Pearson: There is no requirement to notify a divisional veterinary officer of an intention to import hares from the Republic of Ireland unless:
	(i) the import is of a hare from the Republic of Ireland which has previously been brought to the Republic of Ireland from a country other than GB, the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Northern Ireland and has not been detained and isolated in quarantine for a period of at least six months before entering Northern Ireland; or
	(ii) my Department has reason to believe that there is an outbreak of rabies in the Republic of Ireland.
	In both cases, the importation of a hare is prohibited except under and in accordance with the conditions of a licence granted by the Department for which the importer has to apply. No applications for such licences were received during 2002.

Health Trusts(Equality Implications and Market Testing)

Seamus Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make an assessment of compliance by each health trust with the directive on assessment of equality implications and market testing of 19 June 2001.

Angela Smith: A recent review of HSS trusts, showed that a broad range of approaches have been or are being developed to ensure compliance with the policy in the Department's Circular HSS (F) 27/2001, dated 29 June 2001, and entitled Market Testing: Assessment of Equality Implications and other Related Matters. It is felt that trusts have taken forward their obligations under this policy in a correct and meaningful manner.

Health Trusts(Equality Implications and Market Testing)

Seamus Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the directive to health trusts regarding assessment of equality implications and market testing of 19 June 2001 remains in force.

Angela Smith: The policy contained in the Departmental Circular HSS (F) 27/2001, dated 29 June 2001, entitled Market Testing: Assessment of Equality Implications and Other Related Matters remains in force.

Health Trusts(Equality Implications and Market Testing)

Seamus Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what alterations and revocations there have been of the directive to health trusts of 19 June 2001, regarding assessment of equality implications and market testing, since 14 October 2002.

Angela Smith: Since 14 October 2002, there have been no alterations or revocations to the policy contained in the Departmental Circular HSS (F) 27/2001, dated 29 June 2001, and entitled Market Testing: Equality Implications and Other Related Matters.

Home Helps

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many home helps are employed within each health and social services board area.

Angela Smith: The number of home helps employed within each health and social services board area as at 30 June 2003 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 HSS board Headcount 
		
		
			 Eastern 1,800 
			 Northern 1,401 
			 Southern 1,641 
			 Western 1,087 
			 Total 5,929

Hospital Waiting Lists/Times

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are on the waiting list for neurosurgery in Northern Ireland; how many were on the waiting list on (a) 16 July 2002 and (b) 16 July 1998; what assessment he has made for the length of such waiting lists; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The number of people waiting for in-patient admission to the neurosurgery specialty is returned to the Department on a quarterly basis by Trusts. The return provides information about the number of people waiting for in-patient admission on the last day of each quarter. The information in this answer relates to the position at 31 March 2003 (the most recent information available), (a) 30 June 2002 and (b) 30 June 1998.
	At 31 March 2003 there were 700 people waiting for in-patient admission to the neurosurgery specialty.
	(a) There were 850 people waiting for in-patient admission to the neurosurgery specialty on 30 June 2002.
	(b) There were 425 people waiting for in-patient admission to the neurosurgery specialty on 30 June 1998.
	The Royal Group of Hospitals, in liaison with the four Boards, has been working hard to improve the situation, both in the short-term and with regard to the longer-term development of the service. In particular:
	A task force was established by the Royal to lead the effort in addressing the problems faced by the service;
	Extra theatre lists have been introduced;
	Proposals to enhance the recruitment and retention of nurses have been implemented to restore nursing levels and allow the phased opening of beds, with all beds re-opening by January 2004;
	A clinical careers framework for nurses has also been launched to improve opportunities for personal development and career pathways;
	In addition, treatment has been provided for some suitable patients in units outside Northern Ireland.
	These measures should make a significant contribution to reducing the number of people waiting for in-patient admission to neurosurgery.

Hospital Waiting Lists/Times

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are on the waiting list for (a) orthopaedic and (b) cardiological procedures in Northern Ireland; and how many were on the waiting list on (i) 16 July 2002 and (ii) 16 July 1998.

Angela Smith: The number of people waiting for in-patient admission by specialty is returned to the Department on a quarterly basis by Trusts. The return provides information about the number of people waiting for in-patient admission on the last day of each quarter. Information in this answer is provided for the Trauma and Orthopaedic, Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology specialties. The information in this answer relates to the position at 31 March 2003 (the most recent information available), (a) 30 June 2002 and (b) 30 June 1998. The following table shows the number of people waiting for in-patient admission to the Trauma and Orthopaedic, Cardiac Surgery and cardiology specialties on the 31 March 2003.
	
		
			 Specialty Number of people waiting 
		
		
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 5,528 
			 Cardiac Surgery 436 
			 Cardiology 1,345 
		
	
	(a) The following table shows the number of people waiting for in-patient admission to the Trauma and Orthopaedic, Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology specialties on the 30 June 2002.
	
		
			 Specialty Number of people waiting 
		
		
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 6,064 
			 Cardiac Surgery 644 
			 Cardiology 1,339 
		
	
	(b) The following table shows the number of people waiting for in-patient admission to the Trauma and Orthopaedic, Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology specialties on 30 June 1998.
	
		
			 Specialty Number of people waiting 
		
		
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 4,939 
			 Cardiac Surgery 463 
			 Cardiology 1,026

Hospital Waiting Lists/Times

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to reduce waiting lists for (a) orthopaedic and (b) cardiological surgical procedures in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Within the orthopaedic surgery specialty a number of steps have been taken to address waiting times. These steps include:
	An increase in the number of trainees in the orthopaedic specialty.
	The establishment of a pilot initiative involving orthopaedic surgeons, general practitioners and physiotherapists, aimed at treating people in the community, and reducing the need for consultant appointments and subsequent surgery.
	The undertaking of a review of acute trauma services, which is expected to make recommendations for improvement on the delivery of trauma services and will provide strategic direction on the future development of the orthopaedic/fracture service.
	In addition, waiting times for orthopaedic surgery will be further addressed by the planned increase in theatre capacity this year. The Regional Spinal Surgery Unit is expected to be fully operational by September 2003, and two new modular operating theatres are currently under construction at the Musgrave Park Hospital site. The provision of these new theatres will increase theatre capacity, increase capacity for fracture services, stabilise and reduce waiting lists, and facilitate the mix of elective, trauma and outpatient work of consultant orthopaedic surgeons.
	To reduce waiting times for cardiac surgery, my Department has developed a joint action plan for the implementation of the recommendations made by the Cardiac Surgery review and the Review of Cardiology Services. In line with the Joint Action Plan, my Department is continuing to invest in additional staff and equipment at the regional cardiac surgery unit in the Royal Hospitals. This investment will facilitate an increase in the number of cardiac surgery procedures undertaken at the regional unit to the target level of 1,100 per year. Until capacity at the Royal is increased to the target level, additional cardiac surgery procedures are being purchased outside the HPSS for patients who are able and willing to travel.

Insurance Premiums

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 24 June 2003, Official Report, column 710W, on insurance premiums, what steps his Department is taking to alleviate the effects of increases in business insurance premiums in Northern Ireland in the last three years.

Ian Pearson: At national level Government are taking forward the recommendations of the review of Employers' Liability Insurance and my officials are closely involved in that work.
	I have met recently with key stakeholders from NI industry and the local insurance industry. The Health and Safety Executive (NI) and Invest NI are providing practical support and advice to improve the insurability of NI businesses. Furthermore, I plan to meet shortly with a number of representatives from the GB insurance industry to discuss ways of increasing their engagement with the NI market.

Landfill Site, Mallusk

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will set up a public inquiry into the proposed superdump landfill site at Mallusk.

Angela Smith: The planning application for the proposed landfill site at Cottonmount, Mallusk was received by the Department of the Environment's Planning Service in February 1995. Whilst a Public Inquiry was considered it was decided that there was sufficient information to reach a decision without the need for an Inquiry. In June 1997 Planning Service proceeded by way of Notice of Opinion in accordance with Article 31(3) of the Planning (Northern Ireland) 1991. Having taken this route the only options now available to Planning Service are either to issue a Notice of Opinion to Approve or a Notice of Opinion to Refuse. The only available provision for a Public Hearing would be if the applicant appeals either a future Notice of Opinion to Approve or a Notice of Opinion to Refuse.

Languages

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding was provided for the promotion of the (a) Irish language and (b) Ulster-Scots language in each year since 1998.

Angela Smith: The promotion of the Irish and the Ulster-Scots languages is the responsibility of the North/South Language Body and its two Agencies Foras na Gaeilge (the Irish Language Agency) and Tha Boord o Ulstr-Scotch (the Ulster-Scots Agency).
	The North/South Language Body is jointly funded by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DCRGA). The funding provided by the North/South Language Body for the promotion of the Irish and Ulster-Scots languages is shown as follows.
	
		
		
			  Foras na Gaeilgefunding for Irish language promotion Tha Boord o Ulstr-Scotchfundingfor Ulster-Scots language promotion 
		
		
			 1998 Nil Nil 
			 1999 Nil Nil 
			 2000 1,837,000.00 4,000.00 
			 2001 2,000,000.00 3,000.00 
			 2002 2,640,000.00 14,000.00 
			 2003 to date 1,405,000.00 24,000.00 
		
	
	Funding is available from departmental mainstream programmes for projects which may have an Irish or Ulster-Scots language dimension which cannot be separated from the primary funding objectives.

Murdered RUC Officers

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make further resources available to the Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable to investigate the unsolved murders of RUC officers; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Murphy: I am very conscious of the feelings surrounding such an emotive issue as unsolved murders, and I have the deepest sympathy for the relatives of police officers who have suffered in this way.
	Government has made available over 2.1 billion for policing over the next three years. It is for the Chief Constable to manage those considerable resources in the delivery of a day to day policing service including the conduct of criminal investigations. I know he is currently reviewing a variety of murder cases where there is a realistic prospect of securing a conviction.

North-South Ministerial Council

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many meetings of the North and South Ministerial Council have been held since the suspension of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: None.

Older People's Rights Commissioner

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on the establishment of an Older People's Rights Commissioner for Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: I refer the honourable Gentleman to the previous answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 3 July 2003 (122352).

Parades Commission

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what costs have been associated with the operational running of the Parades Commission in each of the last three financial years.

Jane Kennedy: The breakdown of the Parades Commission's operating costs is available in its Annual Reports which are laid before Parliament.

Peace II Programme

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what impact the N+2 requirement of the funding process for the Peace II programme will have upon the allocation of the total funds made available under this programme; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: For all Structural Funds Programmes the N+2 requirement means that any part of an annual commitment not properly claimed from the European Commission by the end of the second year following the year of commitment will automatically be withdrawn. For the PEACE II Programme monies committed for 2000 and 2001 must be spent and claimed from the European Commission by the end of 2003, otherwise the monies will be lost to the Peace II Programme.
	As regards the current position the PEACE II Monitoring Committee on 24 June 2003 adopted a strategy to ensure that funds are fully utilised. This strategy has three key components. The first is to maximise spend up to 31 December 2003 and this can be achieved by all Implementing Bodies and project sponsors continuing to approve and implement projects on the ground in line with the Priorities and Measures specified in the Programme. The second component involves working closely with the SEUPB and the European Commission to ensure that the N+2 target for the Programme at the end of the year is set with due regard to the full and proper application of the various Regulatory provisions involved. I anticipate this work will involve a reduction in the expenditure targets for this year. However, while both the above are producing results, they alone will not be sufficient to avoid a loss of funding. Therefore the third component is to increase spend through the inclusion of projects which were not originally intended to be funded through the PEACE II Programme, but which nonetheless meet the distinctiveness and other requirements of the Programme. This will mean that some existing Departmental spend would be scored against the Programme in the remainder of this year.
	However, since this will release the same quantum of resources from Departmental expenditure, I intend to use these resources to rebalance the Programme early in 2004 and thereby ensure that activities originally intended can go ahead as planned.
	I have also commissioned a review of the PEACE II Programmes Implementing systems and processes.

Peace II Programme

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how long it has taken on average to process an application form and the issuing of payments in respect of the Peace II programme; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The average time to process an application form in respect of the Peace II Programme is 79 working days, including unsuccessful applications. In the vast majority of cases payments have been made to projects within 10 working days of receipt of a request for payment by the Special EU Programmes Body.

Peace II Programme

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the projects funded under the Peace II European Initiative in North Belfast in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003.

Ian Pearson: The information requested will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Personal Security

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been notified by the police in the past two years that private information about them had been found in the possession of republicans; and what the associated costs of upgrading their personal security was.

Paul Murphy: For the two year period to 30 June 2003, a total of 3,558 persons have been notified. These figures are not held centrally and so may be subject to adjustment.
	There are a number of schemes to which individuals may apply to upgrade their personal security. Obtaining the relevant information would only be possible by searching on a case by case basis. Therefore the associated costs of upgrading the personal security of these individuals could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Planning

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials are employed in the Planning Appeals Commission, broken down by grade.

John Spellar: The Planning Appeals Commission consists of 15 commissioners and four call-off panel commissioners, who are all statutory officeholders. There are also 18 administrative support staff who are civil servants provided by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. The breakdown by grade is as follows:
	1 Chief Administrative Officer (Deputy Principal)
	1 Executive Officer I
	3 Executive Office II
	7 Administrative Officers
	2 Administrative Assistants
	1 Personal
	3 Typists

Planning

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the average length of time taken by the Planning Service in Northern Ireland to issue a final decision in respect of planning applications in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Belfast over the last three years.

Angela Smith: The average time taken by the Department of the Environment's Planning Service to issue a final decision in respect of planning applications in Northern Ireland, and in Belfast over the last three years is as follows:
	
		
			  200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Average time in Northern Ireland 
			 Total average days 139 134 137 
			 Total average weeks 20 19 20 
			 Average time in Belfast 
			 Total average days 143 134 134 
			 Total average weeks 20 19 19

Prescriptions

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prescriptions were issued in Northern Ireland in the year 200203; what the total cost of such prescriptions was; and what percentage of such prescriptions was paid for by the Government.

Angela Smith: The number of prescriptions issued is not known; however, the number of prescriptions submitted for payment in 200203 was 14,622,156 covering some 25,501,388 items.
	The cost in 200203 of prescriptions, before deduction of patient contributions, was 322.8m. In 200203 patient contributions totalled 12.7m leaving the percentage paid for by Government at 96.1 per cent. (310.1m).
	Of the 25,501,388 items that were dispensed 6.1 per cent. were paid for at the point of dispensing. The remaining 93.9 per cent. of items did not have the 6.20 charge paid at the point of dispensing because either the patient had a pre-payment certificate and therefore did not have to pay or the patient was exempt from payment due to age, benefit status or other reason given on the back of the prescription form.

Primary Schools

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will introduce a system of funding for primary schools in Northern Ireland which is on the same basis as the arrangements in England.

Jane Kennedy: The system for funding primary schools in Northern Ireland is very similar to that of England in that delegated budgets are determined by means of a formula developed and operated by the Education and Library Board (in England the LEA has this responsibility).
	The Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 provides for the introduction of a Common Funding Scheme which will include a single common formula for the calculation of the delegated budgets of all schools, except special schools. This will ensure that schools of similar size and characteristics receive similar levels of funding.

Public Administration Review

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of (a) establishing and (b) operating the review of public administration in Northern Ireland has been.

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on the Review of Public Administration.

Ian Pearson: Expenditure on the Review of Public Administration (RPA) since April 2002 totals 1.06 million, of which 0.15 million has been attributed to the establishment of the Review and 0.91 million to its subsequent operation.

Public Bodies

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many public bodies operated in Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people on each of the public bodies in Northern Ireland are members of the (a) DUP, (b) UUP, (c) SF, (d) AP and (e) SDLP.

Ian Pearson: Information on quangos is available in Public Bodies, a publication produced annually by the Cabinet Office. This publication provides information on the size, spend and membership of public bodies in the UK and includes non-departmental public bodies attached to the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments. The current edition of the publication, Public Bodies 2002 is available in the House of Commons Library.
	Information on the political affiliation of those appointed to serve on quangos is not available. However, the Public Appointments Annual Report provides an analysis of all appointments made by Northern Ireland Departments and includes statistics on applicants and appointees who have declared political activity within the past five years. A copy of the latest report (covering the period April 2001 to March 2002) was placed in the Library of the House in January 2002.

Refrigerator and Freezer Disposal

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on his policy for the disposal of refrigerators and freezers in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: European Commission Regulation 2037/2000 on Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), which came into effect on 1 October 2000, requires the removal of controlled ODS from refrigeration equipment before these appliances are scrapped. Recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction of such substances may be undertaken using only approved technologies. The necessary technology is not yet available anywhere in Ireland; a few facilities are now available in Great Britain.
	Currently, responsibility for collection, storage and disposal of waste fridges lies with district councils. The Department of the Environment, through the waste management grant scheme, is fully funding district councils in taking forward this responsibility. The Department has also taken a proactive role in assisting councils to seek to achieve a cost-effective, environmentally-sound approach to the disposal of fridges. To this end a collective contract for the disposal of fridges on an all-island basis is currently under negotiation aided by the Central Procurement Directorate (Department of Finance and Personnel).
	In August 2005 ultimate responsibility for collection and disposal of fridges will transfer from district councils to producers under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC. The Department will, after that date, continue to have a role in ensuring the availability and accessibility of the necessary collection facilities in accordance with the requirements of the WEEE Directive. The detailed out-workings of the directive continue, however, to be the subject of discussion between officials in my Department, the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry. Public consultations with stakeholders are also on-going.

Regulatory Bodies

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the (a) number of staff employed by and (b) budget of each regulatory body for which his Department is responsible in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: Information on regulatory bodies is available in Public Bodies, a publication produced annually by the Cabinet Office. This publication provides information on the size, spend and membership of public bodies in the UK and includes non-departmental public bodies attached to the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments. The current edition of the publication, Public Bodies 2002 is available in the House of Commons Library.

Reinvestment and Reform Initiative

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under what terms the borrowing facility under the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative can be accessed; what constitutes revenues in Northern Ireland for the purposes of accessing borrowing; and whether movement towards convergence must occur between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Ian Pearson: The borrowing facility provided under the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative (RRI) will operate under the standard terms for borrowing from the National Loans Fund as determined by the Treasury. Access to the borrowing facility will be contingent upon the generation of additional rates revenue, and revenue from domestic water charges once introduced. Only revenue above the level needed to match average increases in England will count as qualifying revenue for borrowing purposes.

Road Safety

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal accidents, broken down by their road classification, there were in each of the past three years.

Angela Smith: The table outlines the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents in Northern Ireland in each of the past three years. It should be noted that the information on road classification is not available, a breakdown is however provided by rural and urban areas based on speed limits.
	
		Road Traffic Injury Collisions by Road Type: NI 20002002
		
			  Fatal Collisions Serious Collisions Slight Collisions Total Collisions 
		
		
			 2000 
			 Roads in Urban Areas 46 639 4532 5217 
			 Roads in Rural Areas 103 636 2432 3171 
			 Total 149 1275 6964 8388 
			 2001 
			 Roads in Urban Areas 36 602 3847 4485 
			 Roads in Rural Areas 101 639 2222 2962 
			 Total 137 1241 6069 7447 
			 2002 
			 Roads in Urban Areas 37 506 3492 4035 
			 Roads in Rural Areas 99 599 2051 2749 
			 Total 136 1105 5543 6784

Schools

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents of vandalism against school property occurred in (a) North Belfast, (b) Belfast and (c) Ireland; and what the total cost was in each area, in each year since 2000.

Jane Kennedy: The cost of vandalism met by each Education and Library Board in controlled and maintained schools in each financial year since 2000 is as follows:
	
		
		
			 Education and Library Board 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Belfast 356,250 485,000 292,000 
			 Western 62,958 42,263 53,623 
			 North-Eastern 272,036 286,121 226,994 
			 South-Eastern 189,741 248,122 69,449 
			 Southern 78,286 133,708 140,713 
			 Total 959,2 71 1,195,214 782,729 
		
	
	The computerised system currently operated by the 5 Education and Library Boards is being upgraded at this time and information on the number of incidents of vandalism in schools and on the cost of such incidents is not available at present. The information on North Belfast schools is also not available at this time. I will write to the honourable member when this information becomes available.

Secondments

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's policy is on employing secondees from the private sector; how many secondees from the (a) private and (b) public sectors his Department employed in each year since 1997; from which companies and organisations they were seconded; at what level they were employed; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: This response covers both the Northern Ireland civil service and the Northern Ireland Office.
	Policy on inward secondments is set out both in the Northern Ireland Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code and in the GB equivalent. Inward secondments are generally used to meet particular business needs, for example where there is a shortage of skills or expertise to undertake particular work.
	In addition, both the Northern Ireland civil service and Northern Ireland Office participate in interchange schemes. These recognise the value of interchange for skills transfer and staff development, and facilitate staff exchanges with the private, voluntary and wider public sectors.
	Since 1997 there have been 37 secondments from the private sector and 185 from the public sector to the Northern Ireland civil service. There were no secondments from the private sector and 38 from the public sector to the Northern Ireland Office during the same period. A breakdown is provided in the tables which have been placed in the Library.

Sick Leave (Health Professionals)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many days of sick leave was taken in the last 12 months by (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) other health care professionals and (d) other employees in each health trust.

Angela Smith: The number of sick leave days taken in the last 12 months up to and including 30 June 2003 by (a) doctors, (b) nurses (c) other health care professionals and (d) other employees in each health trust is as follows:
	
		
			 Health and social services trusts Doctors Nurses Other health care professionals Other employees 
		
		
			 Altnagelvin Hospitals Trust 1,100 10,867 2,171 17,430 
			 Armagh and Dungannon Trust 297 8,581 1,824 10,871 
			 Belfast City Hospital Trust 997 23,297 7,976 18,883 
			 Causeway Trust 70 16,678 3,197 24,684.5 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Trust 733.4 9,018.4 2,546.1 9,788.1 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community Trust 143.8 3,505.7 977.6 11,368.3 
			 Down and Lisburn Trust 352 14,712 3,281 29,254 
			 Foyle Trust 80.8 8,886.2 1,620.7 19,244.2 
			 Greenpark Trust 86 12,291.9 2,639.9 3,385.7 
			 Homefirst Community Trust 532 15,464 3,202 40,991 
			 Mater Infirmorum Trust(10) 310 4,771.8 941.21 6,532.94 
			 Newry and Mourne Trust 158 10,326 4,470 (11)9,937 
			 North and West Belfast Trust 183 8,698.1 5,953.9 37,160 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals Trust 951.5 25,905.4 8,341.4 47,270.4 
			 South and East Belfast Trust 230.8 13,509.6 6,786.5 19,068.4 
			 Sperrin Lakeland Trust 324.9 20,804.5 2,359.5 19,767.7 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals 511.1 21,468.2 12,498.9 26,176.4 
			 United Hospitals Trust 770 19,111 4,189 23,107 
			 Northern Ireland Ambulance Service(12) n/a n/a 9,047.38 (hours) 701. 88 (hours) 
		
	
	(10) Period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003.
	(11) This figure does not include community care assistants.
	(12) The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was only able to provide information in hours due to the shift pattern worked by employees. The figures provided are for year ending May 2003.

Sick Leave (Health Professionals)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general practitioners in Northern Ireland are on sick leave from work.

Angela Smith: Not all GPs report when they are unable to attend work due to sickness. The total number of GPs on sick absence is therefore not known. As at 30 June 2003, the Central Services Agency is aware of 18 general practitioners absent from their practice due to sickness and is paying for the employment of locums.

Smoking

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many smoking rooms the Northern Ireland Civil Service maintains; how frequently staff are permitted to attend to smoke; for what length of time; at what cost; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: There are some 158 smoking rooms currently in operation in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and NIO within the general office estate.
	Although no central guidance has been issued on the frequency or length of absences permitted in order to use smoking rooms, line managers are required to ensure that any individual cases of abuse of the facility are identified and dealt with quickly.
	As use of smoking facilities is at management discretion and the cost of providing and maintaining the smoking rooms is not identified separately from other accommodation costs the cost of this facility could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	The NICS has been trying to encourage staff to give up smoking through its Workplace health Improvement Programme. This programme is designed to raise awareness of a range of health issues, including smoking, and offers practical advice to encourage staff to adopt/maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Car Parking (Stormont)

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Stormont estate car parking spaces there are; how many such spaces have been built since 1995; how much parkland he plans to use for car parking spaces; and what his policy is on the growth of car parking provision on the estate.

Ian Pearson: There are approximately 2500 car parking spaces within the Stormont Estate. Around 400 of these are adjacent to Parliament Buildings and are for the use of Assembly members, staff and visitors. The remaining 2100 are used by civil servants working on the Estate, together with visitors and contractors. This total includes spaces designated for use by people with disabilities and for visitors. No extra spaces have been created since 1995 apart from 25 temporary spaces provided recently but the opportunity is currently being taken to upgrade a redundant builder's compound to provide an additional 70 parking spaces. Any further development for parking will be dependent upon decisions on the implementation of the recommendations in the recently completed Accommodation Review.

Social Housing

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new homes for social renting have been completed in North Belfast in each of the last five years and what their locations are.

John Spellar: House completions, for the last five years in the Belfast North constituency, totalled 889, as follows:
	
		
			  Number of houses completed 
		
		
			 199899 181 
			 19992000 190 
			 200001 192 
			 200102 196 
			 200203 130 
			 Total 889 
		
	
	A list of locations is provided in the table.
	
		Houses completed in Belfast North constituency
		
			 Provider Location Units 
		
		
			 199899   
			 BIH Glencairn 33 
			 BIH 159161 Cavehill Road 8 
			 Flax Rosebank Mill, Flax Street 38 
			 Flax Ardoyne Bus Depot, Ph1 40 
			 Flax Thorndale, Duncairn Avenue 11 
			 Oaklee 21 Skegoneill Avenue 5 
			 Triangle Squireshill Crescent, Ligoneill 12 
			 Woodvale and Shankill 57 Glencairn Crescent 1 
			 NIHE Carrick Hill 9 
			 NIHE Downview Gardens 14 
			 NIHE Lower Regent Street 4 
			 NIHE Plunkett Court 4 
			 NIHE Squireshill Park 2 
			 Total  181 
			
			 19992000   
			 Clanmil 30 Cairnshill Park 4 
			 Filor Lawnbrook, Ph2 26 
			 Filor Lawnbrook, Ph2b 1 
			 Newington 171 Limestone Road 48 
			 Oaklee Buncrana Gardens 24 
			 Ulidia Salisbury Avenue 10 
			 Woodvale and Shankill Broom/Bracken, Ph2 26 
			 NIHE Downview Gardens 12 
			 NIHE Plunkett Court 4 
			 NIHE Carlisle Road 8 
			 NIHE Hillman Close 8 
			 NIHE Hillman Street 3 
			 NIHE North Queen Street 9 
			 NIHE Spamount Street 6 
			 NIHF Wall Street 1 
			 Total  190 
			
			 200001   
			 BIH Centenary House, Waring Street 40 
			 BIH Dover Street 8 
			 Clanmil 13 Harcourt, Cliftonville 1 
			 Clanmil 109 Skegoneill Avenue 1 
			 Clanmil 13 Newington Avenue 1 
			 Filor Lawnbrook, Ph3 30 
			 Flax Ardoyne Bus Depot, Ph2 14 
			 Fold Crumlin Road 21 
			 Fold Torrens, Ph1 18 
			 Habinteg 3 1 Cliftonville Avenue 7 
			 Oaklee Clifton Park Avenue 33 
			 NIHE Hillman Court 9 
			 NIHE Pepperhill Street 5 
			 NIHE Stanhope Street 4 
			 Total  192 
			
			 200102   
			 Filor Lanark Way/Kirk Street 26 
			 Fold Rosewood/Crumlin, Ph2 22 
			 Fold Alliance, Ph3 32 
			 Newington Newington Rehabs 10 
			 Newington Community Gardens, Limestone Road 8 
			 Newington New Lodge, HAA, Ph2 26 
			 Oaklee 6276 Cliftonville Road 8 
			 Oaklee Roe Street/BCC Depot 36 
			 Oaklee Black's Court, Ph2 8 
			 Oaklee Dumbarton, Ph2 2 
			 Ulidia Antrim Road 16 
			 Woodvale and Shankill 20 Mayo Park 1 
			 Woodvale and Shankill 35 Woodvale Parade 1 
			 Total  196 
			
			 200203   
			 BIH Clifton House, North Queen Street 83 
			 Filor 3 Northwood Drive 6 
			 Flax 211 Old Park Road 1 
			 Fold Wheatfield, Ph1 13 
			 Newington Newington, Ph2A 8 
			 Newington Newington, Ph2B 2 
			 Oaklee The Maples, Chief Street 12 
			 Triangle Squireshill Crescent 3 
			 Woodvale and Shankill 8 Crumlin Gardens 1 
			 Woodvale and Shankill 15 Crumlin Gardens 1 
			 Total  130

Special Educational Needs

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many teachers are employed in North Belfast to cater for children with special educational needs.

Jane Kennedy: Under Special Educational Needs Legislation, Education and Library Boards have a qualified duty to secure education for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in a mainstream placement. Therefore the majority of children identified as having SEN will have their needs met by mainstream teachers with, where required, support from a classroom assistant or outside specialist support, such as outreach from special schools, assistance from a behaviour support team, or speech and language therapy help from outside the school. In this sense, all teachers may have a role in providing educational help for children with SEN.
	Under Local Management of Schools (LMS) arrangements, mainstream schools have the majority of funding for special needs within their delegated budgets. Schools have discretion as to how the money is spent, e.g. to employ additional teachers for children with SEN. It is therefore not possible to provide specific teacher numbers in primary and post primary schools within the timescale for the question. However, with regard to specialist support services the Belfast ELB provides additional teaching time to assessed pupils within all schools in Belfast for special needs in the areas of learning, dyslexia, behaviour, autism and physical and sensory disability. These services employ an additional 55 teachers.
	In all mainstream schools a designated teacher known as the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) will be responsible for the day to day operation of the school's SEN policy, liaison with outsiqe agencies etc. This will be in addition to the SENCO's teaching duties. The number of teachers employed in Special Schools or Special Units in the North Belfast Constituency area is:
	Special School Teachers27
	Special Unit Teachers 2

Special Educational Needs

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was allocated to meet the special education needs of children in (a) primary and (b) post primary schools in North Belfast in each year since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: The funding made available to the Education and Library Boards (ELBs) by the Department of Education for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) has two components:
	the SEN element, managed centrally by each board, which is used to provide classroom assistance, special equipment, disabled access and outreach support services for mainstream pupils as well as to maintain Special Schools and Units. These resources are allocated on an individual basis following the assessment procedures as set out in the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs. It is not possible to provide details of such resources specifically for the North Belfast Constituency area within the timescale of the question. However, it is known that there are 70 classroom assistants funded by the Belfast ELB in North Belfast schools for individual pupils with SEN at an approximate cost of 500,000 per annum; and
	the Local Management of Schools (LMS) component, managed by mainstream schools to assist pupils with SEN who do not require a Statement. Annual expenditure on the LMS Special Needs budgets for schools in the North Belfast constituency area is as follows:
	
		
		
			  19992000 200001 200102 200203 200304 
		
		
			 Primary Schools 537,098 509,494 532,226 538,865 528,00 
			 Secondary Schools 409,850 425,124 450,748 472,005 481,000 
			 Total 946,948 934,618 982,874 1,010,870 1,009,000 
		
	
	In addition, since 1998, around 38 million has been provided to support the introduction of the Code of Practice in Northern Ireland. As well as providing SEN training for teachers and school governors, these funds have helped meet the additional costs of strengthening mainstream provision for pupils with SEN, by expanding outreach and peripatetic teaching support and by providing more classroom assistants. Specific allocations to schools in the North Belfast Constituency area are not readily identifiable in the timescale, but it is estimated that in 200203 these totalled approximately 70,000 for primary schools and 50,000 for post-primary schools.

Sports and Recreational Facilities

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money has been provided to district councils in Northern Ireland for the development of sports and recreational facilities in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: Since 1999 the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL) has had overall responsibility for sports and recreational development in Northern Ireland. The amount of money both Exchequer and Lottery, provided to district councils in Northern Ireland, via DCAL funding sources, for the development of sports and recreational facilities in each year since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			 Year  
		
		
			 1997(13) 2,845,074 
			 1998(13) 1,272,110 
			 1999 1,177,500 
			 2000 230,000 
			 2001 173,000 
			 2002 380,000 
			 2003 (14)0 
		
	
	(13) Prior to 1999 overall responsibility for sporting and recreational development in Northern Ireland rested with the Department of Education for Northern Ireland while Inland Waterways and Waterway recreations functions rested with the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland.
	(14) To date.

Staff Costs

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff the Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which the Department is responsible had in each year since 1997; and what the cost of those staff was in each of those years.

Ian Pearson: The information is as follows:
	Staffing
	The staffing figures to reflect both NI Civil Servants and Home Civil Servants, in each year since 1997, for the Northern Ireland Office, the Northern Ireland Departments and their respective Agencies, are set out in Tables A and B.
	The staffing figures for associated NDPBs are available from the Cabinet Office in its annual publication Public Bodies. The information includes details of the number of staff employed by each NDPB at 31 March each year. Public Bodies 2002 was published in January 2003. Copies of Public Bodies published each year since 1997 are available in the Libraries of both Houses. Staff costs
	With the introduction of Devolution in Northern Ireland in December 1999, Northern Ireland Departments restructured and increased in number from six to 11. In addition, as a consequence of the transitions to resource accounting, outturn information from 200001 onwards is held on a resource basis, prior to this only cash based information is available. For these reasons, the only years for which comparable outturn information is available is for 200001 onwards. However, the outturn information provided for 200203 is based on provisional outturn and therefore is not directly comparable to 200001 or 200102, which are based on final outturn.
	Staffing costs for the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Departments and their respective Agencies are set out in Table C.
	The staffing costs for associated NDPBs of the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Departments are available from the annual accounts of each body.
	
		Table A: StaffingNorthern Ireland Office and Agencies
		
			  199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Core Department 992 964 961 935 930 1,003 
			
			 Agencies:   
			 Compensation Agency 120 131 120 130 132 139 
			 Forensic Science NI 122 120 118 122 130 132 
			 NI Prison Service 3,212 3,017 2,730 2,119 2,124 1,989 
			 Total 4,446 4,232 3,929 3,306 3,316 3,263 
		
	
	
		Table B: StaffingNorthern Ireland Departments and Agencies
		
			  199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Core NI Departments 6,312 5,941 5,866 7,529 7,896 8,937 
			
			 Agencies:   
			 Business Development Service 227 238 278 268 266 246 
			 Child Support Agency 294 306 321 319 394 426 
			 Construction Service 576 557 516 509 507 (15) 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 275 297 320 351 398 414 
			 Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency 318 326 319 348 391 445 
			 Environment and Heritage Service 352 360 354 372 410 522 
			 Forest Service  412 395 387 372 360 
			 Government Purchasing Agency 72 91 100 79 89 (15) 
			 Industrial Research and Technology Unit 143 141 148 154 171 (16) 
			 Land Registers for NI 205 199 195 194 201 232 
			 NI Health and Social Services Estates Agency(17) 120 117 114 119 119 122 
			 NI Statistics and Research Agency 177 219 255 290 301 318 
			 Ordnance Survey NI 177 178 175 176 179 197 
			 Planning Service 386 420 452 484 529 592 
			 Public Record Office NI 62 67 68 70 69 73 
			 Rate Collection Agency 256 250 233 238 234 261 
			 Rivers Agency 460 431 420 402 408 441 
			 Roads Service 2,207 2,163 2,162 2,175 2,230 2,214 
			 Social Security Agency 5,555 5,582 5,526 5,732 6,091 6,194 
			 Training and Employment Agency 1,318 1,365 1,269 (15) (15) (15) 
			 Valuation and Lands Agency 270 222 267 268 279 261 
			 Water Service 2,278 2,228 2,216 2,176 2,202 2,147 
			 Sub-total 15,728 16,169 16,103 15,111 15,840 15,465 
			 Total(18) 22,040 22,110 21,969 22,640 23,736 24,402 
		
	
	(15) Part of NI Departmental Core in that year.
	(16) Part of Invest NI (NDPB) in that year.
	(17) Average figures provided.
	(18) Excludes NI civil servants working in NDPBs.
	
		Table C: Staffing cost for Departments and their Agencies -- 000
		
			 Department 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Northern Ireland Office 115,000 115,000 119,000 
			 of which:
			 Compensation Agency 2,470 2,605 2,915 
			 Forensic Science Northern Ireland 3,549 3,743 4,092 
			 Compensation Agency 82,256 70,867 75,069 
			 DARD 76,575 86,320 83,804 
			 of which:
			 Forest Service Agency 6,989 6,479 5,890 
			 Rivers Agency 8,606 10,219 9,064 
			 DCAL 8,642 9,609 12,388 
			 of which:
			 Ordnance Survey (NI) 4,625 4,801 5,693 
			 Public Records Office (NI) 1,493 1,509 1,784 
			 DE 14,767 16,443 16,893 
			 DEL 30,698 28,543 33,731 
			 DETI 27,774 29,623 16,548 
			 of which:
			 Industrial Research and Technology Unit 4,023 4,573 (19) 
			 DFP 54,121 65,429 64,944 
			 of which:
			 Business Development Service 5,880 5,905 5,755 
			 Rates Collection Agency 4,273 4,106 4,817 
			 Valuation and Lands Agency 7,292 7,910 7,430 
			 NI Statistics and Research Agency 6,438 8,743 7,011 
			 Central Procurement Directorate 2,104 2,069 2,238 
			 Construction Service 15,005 14,565 14,194 
			 DHSSPS 24,682 26,659 28,584 
			 of which:
			 Health Estates Agency 4,028 4,120 4,309 
			 DOE 33,074 32,800 44,619 
			 of which:
			 Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency 0 617 622 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing NI 9,081 7,338 11,253 
			 Planning Service 11,166 12,090 14,022 
			 Environment and Heritage Service 8,329 9,005 12,287 
			 DRD 115,317 108,368 112,534 
			 of which:
			 Roads Service 50,334 46,420 48,900 
			 Water Service 52,713 49,815 51,046 
			 DSD 131,596 144,027 154,792 
			 of which:
			 Child Support Agency 5,767 7,278 8,104 
			 Social Security Agency 82,954 91,510 98,390 
			 OFMDFM 7,766 9,675 11,475 
			 Total 525,012 557,496 580,312 
		
	
	(19) IRTU became part of Invest NI from 200203 and is included in DETI composite figure for that year.
	Notes:
	1. Figure work for 200001 and 200102 based on Final Outturn.
	2. Figure work for 200203 based on Provisional Outturn.

Strategic Investment Body

John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will appoint representatives from (a) the trade union movement and (b) the community and voluntary sector to the Strategic Investment Body.

Ian Pearson: An Advisory Council on Strategic Investment will be established to advise the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and the Department of Finance and Personnel on the Strategic Investment Board's strategy and direction, and public private investment issues. Political representatives and social partners will shortly be invited to provide nominations to the Advisory Council. I can confirm that the trade union movement and the community and voluntary sector will each be allocated four seats on the Council.

Teachers

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many teachers have left the teaching profession in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997; and how many have been recruited.

Jane Kennedy: (a) The number of permanent teachers who ceased teaching in a permanent capacity in each academic year since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 
		
		
			 942 885 869 1089 1114 
		
	
	(b) The number of teachers who obtained employment as a teacher in any capacity in each academic year since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 
		
		
			 1066 1132 1123 1289 1380

Telecommunications Masts

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for planning for telecommunication masts have been approved in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) North Belfast in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: It is not possible from planning service's records to distinguish between applications solely for telecommunications masts and applications for all other telecommunications equipment. The number of planning approvals for telecommunications equipment since 1997, in Northern Ireland and in North Belfast, is as follows:
	
		Applications approved in Northern Ireland since 1997
		
			 Year Total number of telecommunications equipment 
		
		
			 199798 152 
			 199899 96 
			 19992000 169 
			 200001 424 
			 200102 324 
			 200203 232 
			 1 April 2003 to 30 June 2003 27 
			 Total 1,099 
		
	
	
		Applications approved in North Belfast since 1997:
		
			 Year Total number of telecommunications equipment 
		
		
			 199798 0 
			 199899 3 
			 19992000 5 
			 200001 10 
			 200102 11 
			 200203 3 
			 1 Apr 2003 to 30 June 2003 0 
			 Total 32

Ulster-Scots

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public expenditure has been awarded to groups and individuals involved in the Ulster Scots cultural outlook in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: It is not possible to identify all public expenditure which has been awarded to groups and individuals involved in the Ulster Scots cultural outlook. Many projects which have received public funding may have an Ulster Scots aspect or element, but it would not be possible to identify all of these projects and groups except at disproportionate cost.
	However, the main conduit for the promotion of Ulster Scots culture is through the Ulster Scots Agency, which has a statutory remit to promote Ulster-Scots language and culture. Total funding provided for the promotion of Ulster-Scots culture by the Agency since its formation is as follows:
	
		
			 Year  
		
		
			 2000 38,020.40 
			 2001 369,002.35 
			 2002 331,254.71 
			 2003 (to date) 133,396.73

Unemployment Pilot Schemes

Seamus Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pilot schemes the Department of (a) Health, Social Services and Public Safety, (b) Social Development, (c) Enterprise, Trade and Investment, (d) Environment, (e) Culture, Arts and Leisure, (f) Agriculture and Rural Development, (g) Employment and Learning, (h) Finance and Personnel, (i) Regional Development and (j) Education have for the recruitment of the unemployed, pursuant to recommendations of the procurement review.

Ian Pearson: To date a total of 12 schemes have been nominated for inclusion in the Pilot Project. These, split by Departments are:
	(a) Health, Social Services and Public Safety: 3
	(b) Social Development: 0
	(c) Enterprise, Trade and Investment: 0
	(d) Environment: 0
	(e) Culture, Arts and Leisure: 0
	(f) Agriculture and Rural Development: 1
	(g) Employment and Learning: 0
	(h) Finance and Personnel: 4
	(i) Regional Development: 3
	(j) Education: 0
	(k) Office of The First and Deputy First Minister: 1

Unemployment Pilot Schemes

Seamus Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pilot schemes for the recruitment of the unemployed he estimates the Department of (a) Health, Social Services and Public Safety, (b) Social Development, (c) Enterprise, Trade and Investment, (d) Environment, (e) Culture, Arts and Leisure, (f) Agriculture and Rural Development, (g) Employment and Learning Needs, (h) Finance and Personnel, (i) Regional Development and (j) Education need to implement to meet relevant recommendations of the procurement review.

Ian Pearson: The Review of the Public Procurement recommended that at least 20 projects are required for the pilot to provide sufficient information on which to judge the success, or otherwise of this approach. The review recommends that at least one project should be contributed by each Department.

Victims (Funds)

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was paid to victims through funds made available by the Assembly of Northern Ireland in (a) 200102 and (b) 200203.

John Spellar: Up to the end of July 2003 the following amounts have been paid to victims through funds made available by the Assembly of Northern Ireland:
	200102: 518,897
	200203: 622,814
	These funds include the Assembly's contribution to Peace II funding. Under resource accounting arrangements, groups (may) continue to claim for expenditure incurred during these years.

Wheelchair Access (Ambulances)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the law regarding wheelchair access in ambulances was changed; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: There is no legislation in respect of wheelchair access in ambulances. However, it is standard procedure for AE ambulance staff to place a wheelchair user on the ambulance stretcher so that any treatment which may be needed can be administered safely. As space does not allow wheelchairs to be safely transported in AE ambulances, they must be left behind. Hospitals have wheelchairs available for use by patients. However, if wheelchair users wish to have their own chairs, a relative or carer would normally be asked to arrange for the wheelchair to be brought to the hospital.

Written Ministerial Statements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many written ministerial statements have been made by the Department since 29 October 2002.

Jane Kennedy: Since 29 October 2002 the Northern Ireland Office has made 79 written ministerial statements to Parliament.